THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


LETTERS    OF    SAMUEL  JOHNSON 


G.   BIRKBECK   HILL 


VOL.  II. 


PRINTED     AT    THE     CLARENDON     PRESS 
BY    HORACE    HART,    PRINTER   TO   THF.    UNIVERSITY 


Letters 


OF 


Samuel  Johnson,  ll.d. 


COLLFXTED    AND    EDITED 

Bv    GEORGE    BIRKBECK     HILL,   D.C.L. 

PEMBROKE  COLLEGE,   OXFORD 
EDITOR    OF    BOSWELL'S    '  LIFE   OF    JOHNSON  ' 


/N     TWO     VOLUMES:     VOL.    II 


Jan.  15,  1777  —  Dec.  18,  1784 


NEW     YORK 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    FRANKLIN    SQUARE 

1892 


r.  2- 


LETTERS    OF   DR.  JOHNSON. 


606. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale\ 


Wednesday,  Jan.  15,  One  in  the  morning,  1777. 
Omnium  reruni  vicissiiiido^.  The  night  after  last  Thursday 
was  so  bad,  that  I  took  ipecacuanha  the  next  day.  The  next 
night  was  no  better.  On  Saturday  I  dined  with  Sir  Joshua. 
The  night  was  such  as  I  was  forced  to  rise  and  pass  some  hours 
in  a  chair,  with  great  labour  of  respiration.  I  found  it  now  time 
to  do  something,  and  went  to  Dr.  Lawrence  ^,  and  told  him  I 
would  do  what  he  should  order,  without  reading  the  prescription. 
He  sent  for  a  chirurgeon  *  and  took  about  twelve  ounces  of  blood, 
and  in  the  afternoon  I  got  sleep  in  a  chair. 

At  night,  when  I  came  to  lie  down  after  trial  of  an  hour  or 
two,  I  found  sleep  impracticable,  and  therefore  did  what  the 
Doctor  permitted  in  a  case  of  distress  ;  I  rose,  and  opening  the 
orifice,  let  out  about  ten  ounces  more.  Frank  and  I  were  but 
awkward  ;  but,  With  Mr.  Levet's  help  ^,  we  stopped  the  stream, 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  343.  surgeon.'     Under  Surgeon  he  writes 

"^  *  Omnium  rerum  heus  vicissitudo  '  corrupted  by  conversation  from  chi- 

est.'  rurgeon.'    Dr.  Murray  in  his  Diction- 

Terence.    Eunuchus,  ii.  2.  45.  ary  gives  no  later  instance  in  prose 

For  '  the  sad  vicissitude  of  things,'  of  this  spelHng  than  one  found  in  one 

see  Li/e,v.  117.  of  Johnson's  Letters. 

^  Ante,  i.  47,  n.  2.  ^  Levett,  '  the  obscure  practiser  in 

"•  Johnson  in  his  Dictionary  under  physic,'   had  a  room   in  his  house. 

Ozyz/r^,?(7«,  says 'it  is  now  generally  'I  have  heard  Johnson  say,'  writes 

pronounced,  and   by  many  written,  Bosvvell,  '  he  should  not  be  satisfied, 

VOL.  IL  B  and 


To  Mrs.  Aston. 


[A.D.  1777. 


and  I  lay  down  again,  though  to  little  purpose  ;  the  difficulty  of 
breathing  allowed  no  rest,  I  slept  again  in  the  day-time,  in  an 
erect  posture.  The  Doctor  has  ordered  a  second  bleeding, 
which  I  hope  will  set  my  breath  at  liberty '.  Last  night  I  could 
lie  but  a  little  at  a  time. 

Yet  I  do  not  make  it  a  matter  of  m.uch  form.  I  was  to-day  at 
Mrs.  Gardiner's  ^  When  I  have  bled  to-morrow,  I  will  not  give 
up  Langton,  nor  Paradise  ^.  But  I  beg  that  you  will  fetch  me 
away  on  Friday.  I  do  not  know  but  clearer  air  may  do  me 
good  ;  but  whether  the  air  be  clear  or  dark,  let  me  come  to  you. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

To  sleep,  or  not  to  sleep ^ 

507. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  February  i8,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  104. 


508. 

To  George  Steevens. 
[London],  February  25,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  100. 

509. 

To  Mrs.  Aston  ^. 
Dear  Madam,  Bolt-Court,  March  8,  1777. 

As  we  pass  on  through  the  journey  of  life,  we  meet,  and 
ought  to  expect,  many  unpleasing  occurrences,  but  many  like- 
wise encounter  us  unexpected.  I  have  this  morning  heard  from 
Lucy^  of  your  illness.     I  heard,  indeed,  in  the  next  sentence 


though  attended  by  all  the  College 
of  Physicians,  unless  he  had  Mr. 
Levet  with  him.'     Life,  i.  243. 

'  Johnson  wrote  to  Bosw^ell  on 
February  18  : — '  I  have  been  so  dis- 
tressed by  difficulty  of  breathing  that 
I  lost,  as  was  computed,  six  and 
thirty  ounces  of  blood  in  a  few  days.' 
lb.  iii.  104.  See  ib.  iii.  152,  «.  3,  for 
his  resort  to  bleeding. 


*  '  The  wife  of  a  tallow  chandler 
on  Snow  Hill,  not  in  the  learned  way, 
but  a  worthy  good  woman.'  Ib.  i.  242. 

^  Attte,  \.  314. 

''  He  is  parodying  Hatiilct,  Act  iii. 
sc.  I,  1.  56  : — '  To  be,  or  not  to  be.' 

^  Published  in  Croker's  Boswell, 
page  528. 

''  Miss  Porter,  Mrs.  Aston's  near 
neighbour  at  Lichfield. 

.       that 


Aetat.  67.]  To    MvS.    Aston. 


that  you  are  to  a  great  degree  recovered.  May  your  recovery, 
dearest  Madam,  be  complete  and  lasting  !  The  hopes  of  paying 
you  the  annual  visit  is  one  of  the  few  solaces  with  which  my 
imagination  gratifies  me  ;  and  my  wish  is,  that  I  may  find  you 
happy. 

My  health  is  much  broken ;  my  nights  are  very  restless,  and 
will  not  be  made  more  comfortable  by  remembering  that  one  of 
the  friends  whom  I  value  most  is  suffering  equally  with  myself. 
Be  pleased,  dearest  lady,  to  let  me  know  how  you  are ;  and  if 
writing  be  troublesome,  get  dear  Mrs.  Gastrell '  to  write  for  you. 
I  hope  she  is  well  and  able  to  assist  you  ;  and  wish  that  you  may 
so  well  recover,  as  to  repay  her  kindness,  if  she  should  want 
you.     May  you  both  live  long  happy  together ! 

I  am, 

Dear  Madam,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

510. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  March  ir,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  105. 

511. 

To  Mrs.  Aston  ^ 
Dearest  Madam, 

The  letter  with  which  I  was  favoured  [by]  the  kindness  of 

Mrs.  Gastrel  has  contributed  very  little  to  quiet  my  solicitude. 

I  am  indeed  more  frighted  than  by  Mrs.  Porter's  account.     Yet 

since  you  have  had  strength  to  conquer  your  disorder  so  as  to 

obtain   a  partial  recovery,  I  think  it  reasonable  to  believe  that 

the  favourable  season  which  is  now  coming  forward,  may  restore 

you  to  your  former  health.     Do  not,  dear  Madam,   lose  your 

courage,    nor    by    despondence   or  inactivity  give    way  to    the 

disease.     Use  such  exercise  as  you  can  bear,  and  excite  cheerful 

thoughts  in  your  own  mind.     Do  not  harrass  \sic\  your  faculties 

'  Mrs.  Aston's  sister.  Ante,  i.  160,  well,  page  529.  Corrected  by  me 
n.  4.  from     the     original     in     Pembroke 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-       College  Library. 

B  2  with 


4  To  Mrs.   Tkrale.  [a.d.  1777. 

with  laborious  attention,  nothing  is,  in  my  opinion,  of  more 
mischievous  tendency  in  a  state  of  body  Hke  yours,  than  deep 
meditation,  or  perplexing  solitude.  Gayety  is  a  duty  when 
health  requires  it'.  Entertain  yourself  as  you  can  with  small 
amusements  or  light  conversation,  and  let  nothing  but  your 
devotion  ever  make  you  serious.  But  while  I  exhort  you,  my 
dearest  lady,  to  merriment,  I  am  very  serious  myself.  The  loss 
or  danger  of  a  friend  is  not  to  be  considered  with  indifference  ; 
but  I  derive  some  consolation  from  the  thought,  that  you  do  not 
languish  unattended,  that  you  are  not  in  the  hands  of  strangers 
or  servants,  but  have  a  Sister  at  hand  to  watch  your  wants  and 
supply  them.  If  at  this  distance  I  can  be  of  any  use  by  con- 
sulting Physicians  or  for  any  other  purpose  I  hope  you  will 
employ  me. 

I   have   thought  on  a  journey  to  Staffordshire,  and  hope  in 
a  few  weeks  to  climb  Stowhill^,  and  to  find  there  the  pleasure 
which  I  have  so  often  found.     Let  me  hear  again  from  you. 
I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

March  15,  1777. 

512. 
To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Madam,  March  19,  1777. 

Be  pleased  to  procure  the  bearer  credit  for  a  linen  gown, 
and  let  her  bring  the  bill  to  me. 

Did  you  stay  all  night  at  Sir  Joshua's?  and  keep  Miss  up 
again  ?     Miss  Owen  had  a  sight — all  the  Burkes — the  Harris's — 

'  This  was  a  lesson  which  he  often  so  useful  as  not  to  think.'     Ante,  i. 

taught:  '  Grief  has  its  time  '  he  said.  293.      When    Mr.  Thrale    died,   he 

Li/e^  iv.  121.     '  Grief  is  a  species  of  wrote  to  his  widow: — '  I  think  busi- 

idleness,'  he  wrote  to   Mrs.  Thrale.  ness  the  best  remedy  for  grief,  as 

Ante,  i.  212.      'Encourage  yourself  soon  as  it  can  be  admitted.'     Post, 

in  bustle,  and  variety,  and  cheerful-  Letter  of  April    11,   1781.     To   Dr. 

ness,' he  wrote  to  her  ten  weeks  after  Taylor   he   wrote: — 'Sadness    only 

the  death  of  her  only  surviving  son.  multiplies  self     Post,  Letter  of  Au- 

Ante,  i.  406.     '  Even  to  think  in  the  gust  3,  1779. 

most  reasonable  manner,'  he  said  at  '-'  Her  house  was  on  Stow  Hill. 

another  time,  'is  for  the  present  not  '  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  345. 

Miss 


Aetat.  67.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


Miss  Reynolds — what  has  she  to  see  more  ?  and  Mrs.  Horneck, 
and  Miss'. 

You  are  all  young,  and  gay,  and  easy;  but  I  have  miserable 
nights,  and  know  not  how  to  make  them  better ;  but  I  shift 
pretty  well  a-days,  and  so  have  at  you  all  at  Dr.  Burney's 
to-morrow^. 

I  never  thought  of  meeting  you  at  Sir  Joshua's,  nor  knew  that 

it  was  a  great  day.     But  things,  as  sages  have  observed,  happen 

unexpectedly;  and  you  thought  little  of  seeing  me  this  fortnight 

except  to-morrow.     But  go  where  you  will,  and  see  if  I  do  not 

catch  you.     When  I  am  away,  every  body  runs  away  with  you, 

and    carries   you    among   the   grisettes,    or   whither   they    will. 

I  hope  you   will   find    the   want   of   me   twenty   times   before 

you  see  me. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  '  Miss '  who  was  kept  up  again 
was  Miss  Thrale.  Miss  Burney  de- 
scribes her  at  this  time  as  just  '  verg- 
ing on  her  teens.  She  is  certainly 
handsome,  and  her  beauty  is  of  a 
peculiar  sort ;  fair,  round,  firm,  and 
cherubimical ;  with  its  chief  charm 
exactly  where  lies  the  mother's  failure 
— namely  in  the  mouth.  She  is  reck- 
oned cold  and  proud ;  but  I  believe 
her  to  be  merely  shy  and  reserved. 
She  was  very  silent,  but  very  ob- 
servant ;  and  never  looked  tired 
though  she  never  uttered  a  syllable.' 
Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney,  ii.  88.  See 
also  Early  Diary  of  Frances  Burney, 
ii.  153.  'Miss  Owen,  who  is  a  re- 
lation of  Mrs.  Thrale's,  is  good- 
humoured  and  sensible  enough.  She 
is  a  sort  of  butt,  and  as  such  is 
a  general  favourite  ;  though  she  is 
a  willing,  and  not  a  mean  butt ;  for 
she  is  a  woman  of  family  and  fortune.' 
Memoirs  of  Dr.  Bttrney,  ii.  88. 

'All  the  Burkes'  would  be  Ed- 
mund Burke  and  his  wife,  his  brother 
Richard,  and  his  friend  and  distant 
relative  William  Burke,  both  of  whom 


together  with  Edmund  are  described 
in  Goldsmith's  Retaliation. 

Harris  was  '  Hermes' Harris.  Life, 
ii.  225,  and  post,  Letter  of  April  25, 
1780.  His  wife,  Miss  Burney  de- 
scribes as  '  in  nothing  extraordinary ; 
a  so,  so,  sort  of  woman.'  Early 
Diary,  &c.,  ii.  57.  The  editor  in  a 
note  protests  against  this  judgment, 
appealing  to  the  merits  of  her  pub- 
lished letters. 

For  the  Hornecks  see  Life,  i.  414, 
and  ante,  i.  221,  n.  3. 

'^  Miss  Burney,  on  January  9,  1788, 
in  the  days  of  her  servitude  at  Court, 
records  that  the  first  volume  of  John- 
son's Letters  to  Mrs.  T/irale,  as  yet 
unpublished,  was  lent  to  her.  '  The 
book  belongs  to  the  Bishop  of  Car- 
lisle [Dr.  Douglas],  who  lent  it  to 
Mr.  Turbulent  fa  gentleman  who  read 
to  the  Queen],  from  whom  it  was 
again  lent  to  the  Queen,  and  so 
passed  on  to  Mrs.  Schwellenberg. 
Our  name  once  occurs  ;  how  I  started 
at  its  sight!  'Tis  to  mention  the 
party  that  planned  the  first  visit  to 
our  house  :  Miss  Owen,  Mr.  Seward, 

To 


To  Henry   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


513. 

To  Henry  Thrale', 
Dear  Sir,  April  9, 1777. 

This  is  a  letter  of  pure  congratulation.     I  congratulate  you, 

1.  That  you  are  alive  ^. 

2.  That  you  have  got  my  mistress  fixed  again  after  her  excen- 
tricities. 

3.  That  my  mistress  has  added  to  her  conquests  the  Prince  of 
Castiglione^ 


Mrs.  and  Miss  Thrale,  and  Dr.  John- 
son. How  well  shall  we  ever,  my 
Susan,  remember  that  morning ! ' 
The  next  day  she  records : — '  Mrs. 
Schwellenberg  told  me  that  in  the 
second  volume  I  also  was  mentioned. 
It  has  given  me  a  sickness  at  heart 
inexpressible.  It  is  not  that  I  expect 
severity ;  for  previous  to  the  mar- 
riage with  Piozzi,  if  Mrs.  Thrale  loved 
not  F.  B.  where  shall  we  find  faith 
in  words  ?  But  her  present  resent- 
ment of  my  constant  disapprobation 
of  her  conduct  may  prompt  some 
note,  or  other  mark,  to  point  out  her 
change  of  sentiments.'  Th2  Queen 
said  to  Miss  Burney  : — '  I  said  to 
Mr.  Langton  at  the  Drawing-room  : 
— "  Your  friend.  Dr.  Johnson,  Sir, 
has  had  many  friends  busy  to  publish 
his  books,  and  his  memoirs,  and  his 
meditations,  and  his  thoughts  ;  but 
I  think  he  wanted  one  friend  more." 
"What  for?  Ma'am,"  cried  he.  "A 
friend  to  suppress  them,"  I  an- 
swered.' Mme.  D'Arblay's^/^wtf/r.r, 
iv.  15,  19,  22. 

Miss  Burney  in  a  letter  written  at 
the  time  describes  the  party  at  her 
father's  : — '  Mrs.  Thrale  is  a  very 
pretty  woman  still ;  she  is  extremely 
lively  and  chatty  ;  has  no  supercilious 
or  pedantic  airs,  and  is  really  gay 
and  agreeable.'  Early  Diary,  &c., 
ii.  153.  This  letter  she  published 
fifty-five  years    later   in    an   altererl 


form.  In  it  she  says  : — '  I  liked  her 
in  every  thing  except  her  entrance 
into  the  room,  which  was  rather  florid 
and  flourishing,  as  who  should  say, 
"  It's  I  ! — No  less  a  person  than 
Mrs.  Thrale.'"  Memoirs  of  Dr. 
Burney,  ii.  88. 

In  the  original  letter  she  gives 
a  long  and  curious  description  of 
Johnson.  '  He  is  indeed  very  ill- 
favoured  ;  is  tall  and  stout,  but  stoops 
terribly;  he  is  almost  bent  double.' 
He  had  on  his  best  clothes,  '  being 
engaged  to  dine  in  a  large  company ; 
a  large  wig,  snuff-colour  coat  and 
gold  buttons,  but  no  ruffles  to  his 
[shirt] ;  doughty  fists,  and  black 
worsted  stockings.'  There  is  an 
erasure  in  the  original  ;  the  editor 
suspects  that  '  doughty  fists '  was 
originally '  dirty  fists.'  Early  Diary, 
&c..  ii.  154. 

According  to  W'raxall  {Memoirs, 
ed.  1815,  i.  138),  'the  total  abolition 
of  buckles  and  ruffles  '  was  not  made 
'  till  the  era  of  Jacobinism  and  of 
Equality  in  1793  and  1794.'  Sir  P. 
J.  Clerk,  though  a  strong  Whig,  wore 
'  very  rich  laced  ruffles '  as  late  as 
1 78 1.     Life,  iv.  So. 

'  Pi  OS  si  Letters,  i.  346. 

'  'His  death  had  appeared  in  the 
newspapers.'     Life,  iii.  107. 

^  '  Prince  Gonzaga  di  Castiglione, 
when  dining  in  company  with  Dr. 
Johnson,  thinking  it  was  a  polite  as 

4.  That 


Aetat.  67.]  To  Jokn  Rylaud.  7 

4.  That  you  will  not  be  troubled  with  me  till  to-morrow,  when 
I  shall  come  with  *  *  *  *. 

5.  That  *  *  *  *  *  will  go  away  in  the  evening. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

514. 

To  John  Ryland  '. 

Sir, 

I  have  sent  you  the  papers.  Of  this  parcel  I  have  rejected 
[?  ejected]  no  poetry^.  Of  the  letters  there  are  some  which 
I  should  be  sorry  to  omit,  some  that  it  is  not  proper  to 
insert,  and  very  many  which  as  we  want  room  or  want  matter 
we  may  use  or  neglect.  When  we  come  to  these  we  will  have 
another  selection.  But  to  these  I  think  the  present  plan  of  pub- 
lication will  never  bring  me.  His  poems  with  his  play  will 
I  think  make  two  volumes,  The  Adventurers  will  make  at  least 
one,  and  for  the  fourth,  as  I  think  you  intend  four,  which 
will  make  the  subscription  a  guinea,  if  you  subscribe,  we  have  so 
much  more  than  we  want  that  the  difficulty  will  be  to  reject. 

If  Mrs.  Hawkesworth  sells  the  copy^,  we  are  then  to  consider 
how  many  volumes  she  sells,  and  if  they  are  fewer  than  we  have 
matter  to  fill,  we  will  be  the  more  rigorous  in  our  choice. 

I  am  for  letting  none  stand  that  are  only  relatively  good,  as 
they  were  written  in  youth.     The  Buyer  has  no  better  bargain 

well  as  gay  thing  to  drink  the  Doc-  ^  Had  Hawkesworth's  Poems  been 

tor's  health  with  some  proof  that  he  published   perhaps   there  would   be 

had  read  his  works,  called  out  from  found   included   among  them   some 

the  top  of  the  table  to  the  bottom, —  poor   pieces    of   verse    assigned    to 

At  your  good  health,  Mr.  Vagabond.^  Johnson, but  I  am  convinced,  wrongly 

Piozzi's  Synonymy,  ii.  358.  assigned.     Life,  i.  177-8.     Hawkes- 

'  From  the  original   in  the  pos-  worth  wrote,  it  is  stated,  the  pieces  in 

session  of   Mr.  Alfred   Morrison   of  the  Getttleman's  Magazine  for  1746 

Fonthill  House.  -8  signed  Greville.     See  ib.,  1779, 

It  was  sold  by  Messrs.  Sotheby  &  p.  72,   (where  wrong  references   are 

Co.,  on   May  10,  1875,  for  £6  \$s.  given).    This  may  be  a  mistake.    See 

(Lot  95),  and  by  Messrs.  Christie  &  ante,  i.  p.  60,  n.  2,  for  Hawkesworth's 

Co.,  on  June  5, 1888  (Lot  36),  formic.  friendship  with  Fulke  Greville. 

For  the  subject  of  this  Letter  see  ^  The  copyright. 
ante,  i.  412-3. 

when 


8  To  John  Ryland.  [a.d.  1777. 

when  he  pays  for   mean  performances,  by  being  told  that  the 
authour  wrote  them  young'. 

If  the  Lady  can  get  an  hundred  pounds  a  volume,  I  should 
advise  her  to  take  it.  She  may  ask  more.  I  am  not  willing  to 
take  less. 

If  she  prints  them  by  subscription  the  volumes  should  be  four, 
if,  at  her  own  expense,  I  still  do  not  see  considering  the  great 
quantity  of  our  matter  how  they  can  be  fewer.  But  in  that 
I  shall  not  be  obstinate. 

I  have  yet  not  mentioned  Swift's  Life",  nor  the  NoveP  which 
together  will  go  far  towards  a  volume. 

Who  was  his  Amanuensis?  that  small  hand  strikes  a  reader 
with  terrour.     It  is  pale  as  well  as  small  ■*. 

Many  little  things  are,  I  believe,  in  the  magazine  ^,  which 
should  be  marked  and  considered.  I  do  not  always  know  them 
but  by  conjecture. 

The  poetry  I  would  have  printed  in  order  of  time,  which  he 
seems  to  have  intended  by  noting  the  dates,  which  dates  I  should 
like  to  preserve,  they  shew  the  progress  of  [word  torn  off]  mind, 
and  of  a  very  powerful  mind  ^  The  same  [word  torn  off]  may 
be  generally  observed  in  the  prose  pieces. 

What  we  have  to  consider,  and  what  I  have  considered,  are 
the  Authour's  credit,  and  the  Lady's  advantages. 

I  should  be  glad  to  take  over  the  whole,  when  you  can  spend 
an  hour  or  two  with.  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

April  12,  1777. 
To  Mr.  Ryland. 

'  '  For    his    early   pieces    Milton  Stuift  by  praising  Hawkesworth's. 
seems  to  have  had  a  degree  of  fond-  ^  AlmoranandHamct ; anOriental 
ness  not  ver>'  laudable  ;  what  he  has  Tale.    By  John  Hawkesworth,  LL.D. 
once  written  he  resolves  to  preserve,  Gentlenuut's  Magazine,  1761,  p.  273. 
and  gives  to  the  public  an  unfinished  •*  Hawkesworth  twenty  years  ear- 
poem  [The  Passion],  which  he  broke  licr    had    attacked   Johnson's   '  pot- 
off  because  he  was  "nothing  satisfied  hooks.'     Ante,  i.  60,  ;/.  2. 
with  what  he  had  done,"  supposing          ^  The  GcntlcvtatCs  Magazine. 
his  readers  less  nice  than  himself.'          *  Hawkesworth     was     'Johnson's 
Johnson's  Works,  vii.  118.  closest  imitator;  though,'  adds  Bos- 

"  Johnson  begins  his  own  Life  of  well,  'when  he   had  become  elated 

To 


Aetat.  67.] 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.    Taylor. 


515. 

To  James  Boswell. 
May  3,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  108. 


516. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 
Dear  Sir, 

The  weather  now  begins  to  grow  tempting,  and  brings  my 

annual    excursion^   into    my   mind.     It    is    now    an    interesting 

question  whether  you  intend  to  come  hither  again,  for  if  you  do, 

I  shall  endeavour  to  accompany  you  back  :  if  you  let  idleness 

prevail,  and  stay  at  home,  I  have  my  own  course  to  take. 

Mr.  Lucas  has  just  been  with  me.  He  has  compelled  me  to 
read  his  tragedy,  which  is  but  a  poor  performance,  and  yet  may 
perhaps  put  money  into  his  pocket ;  it  contains  nothing  immoral 
or  indecent,  and  therefore,  we  may  very  reasonably  wish  it 
success^. 

My  nights  continue  to  be  very  flatulent,  and  restless,  and  my 
days  are  therefore  sluggish  and  drowsy.  After  physick  I  have 
sometimes  less  uneasiness,  as  I  had  last  night,  but  the  effect  is 
by  no  means  constant ;  nor  have  I  found  any  advantage  from 
going  to  bed  either  with  a  full  or  an  empty  stomach. 

Let  me  know  what  you  resolve  about  your  journey,  as  soon  as 
you  have  taken  your  resolution. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

May  3,  1777. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


by  having  risen  into  some  degree  of 
consequence,  he,  in  a  conversation 
with  me,  had  the  provoking  effrontery 
to  say  he  was  not  sensible  of  it.' 
Life,  i.  234,  252. 

'  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Messrs.  J.  Pearson  and  Co., 
of  5  Pall  Mall  Place,  S.W. 

^  His  annual  excursion  was  to  Lich- 
field and  Ashbourne.    In  the  thirteen 


years  1767-1779  (inclusive)  he  only 
failed  thrice  to  visit  these  places. 
He  often  stayed  at  Oxford  and 
Birmingham  on  his  way.  Life,  iii. 
452. 

^  This  paragraph  is  scored  out  in 
the  original.  In  Baker's  Biog. 
DraTn.,&6..  1782,  i.  289,  Henry  Lucas 
is  described  as  a  student  at  the 
Middle    Temple,    and    son    of    the 

To 


I  o  To  the  Reverend  Dr.   Taylor.  [a.d.  1777. 

517. 
To  Challes  O'Connor. 
[London],  May  19,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life.,  iii.  iii. 

518. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Madam,  May  19, 1777. 

I  have  written  to  Dr.  Taylor,  you  may  be  sure,  but  the 
business  is  pretty  much  out  of  the  Doctor's  way.  His  acquaint- 
ance \is  or  lies\  with  the  Lord  Cavendishes,  he  barely  knows  the 
young  Duke  and  Duchess  ^  He  will  be  proud  to  shew  that 
he  can  do  it ;  but  he  will  hardly  try,  if  he  suspects  any  danger  of 
refusal. 

You  will  become  such  a  gadder,  that  you  will  not  care  a  penny 
for  me.  However,  you  are  wise  in  wishing  to  know  what  life  is 
made  of;  to  try  what  are  the  pleasures  which  are  so  eagerly 
sought,  and  so  dearly  purchased.  We  must  know  pleasure 
before  we  can  rationally  despise  it.  And  it  is  not  desirable  that 
when  you  are,  with  matronal  authority,  talking  down  juvenile 
hopes  and  maiden  passions,  your  hearers  should  tell  you,  like 
Miss  P ,  '  You  never  saw  Sifetc' 

That  you  may  see  this  show  I  have  written,  because  I  am. 
Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

519. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 
Dear  Sir, 

I  am  required  by  Mrs.  Thrale  to  solicite  you  to  exert  your 

celebrated   Irish  patriot,  Dr.  Lucas.  '  Piozzi  Letters,  \.  ■i,i,-]. 

[Life,  i.  311.]     He  is  the  author  of  This  letter  is  explained  by  the  one 

one    play,    printed   in   a   volume   of  that  follows. 

miscellanies.    It  is  entitled  The  Earl  "  William,  fifth  Duke  of  Dcvon- 

0/  Somerset,  17^0.'    He  was  perhaps  shire,  born    1748;  succeeded,  1764  ; 

the  dramatic  writer  of  whom  John-  married   1774,  Georgiana,  daughter 

son  said  :— '  I  never  did  the  man  an  of  Earl  Spencer.     The  Lord  Caven- 

injury ;  but  he  would  persist  in  read-  dishes  were  the  Duke's  uncles. 

intj  his  tragedy  to  me.'     Gentlemmi's  ^  First   published   in    Notes    and 

Maf^azine,  1791,  P-  500-  (2ueries,  6th  S.,  v.  423. 

interest. 


Aetat.  67.] 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.    Taylor. 


II 


interest,  that  she  may  have  a  ticket  of  admission  to  the 
entertainment  at  Devonshire  house'.  Do  for  her  what  you 
can. 

I  continue  to  have  very  troublesome  and  tedious  nights, 
which  I  do  not  perceive  any  change  of  place  to  make  better 
or  worse.  This  is  indeed  at  present  my  chief  malady,  but  this 
is  very  heavy. 

My  thoughts  were  to  have  been  in  Staffordshire  before  now. 
But  who  does  what  he  designs  ?  My  purpose  is  still  to  spend 
part  of  the  Summer  amongst  you ;  and  of  that  hope  I  have  no 
particular  reason  to  fear  the  disappointment. 

Poor  Dod  was  sentenced  last  week.  It  is  a  thing  almost 
without  example  for  a  Clergyman  of  his  rank  to  stand  at  the  bar 
for  a  capital  breach  of  morality.  I  am  afraid  he  will  suffer.  The 
clergy  seem  not  to  be  his  friends.  The  populace  that  was 
extremely  clamorous  against  him,  begins  to  pity  him.  The 
time  that  was  gained  by  an  objection  which  was  never  con- 
sidered as  having  any  force,  was  of  great  use,  as  it  allowed  the 
publick  resentment  to  cool  ^.  To  spare  his  life,  and  his  life  is  all 
that  ought  to  be  spared,  would  be  now  rather  popular  than 
offensive.     How  little  he  thought  six  months  ago  of  being  what 

he  now  is. 

I  am.  Sir,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

May  19,  1777. 

520. 

To  THE  Right  Hon.  Charles  Jenkinson. 
[London,  June  20,  1777].     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  145. 


'  There  is  a  print  of  Devonshire 
House  in  Piccadilly  as  it  was  in  1761, 
in  Dodsley's  London  and  its  Envi- 
rons, ii.  225. 

"  Dr.  Dodd,  on  February  22,  had 
been  found  guilty  of  forging  a  bond 
for  ^4200  in  the  name  of  the  young 
Earl  of  Chesterfield,  and  had  been 
sentenced  to  death.  On  April  18, 
eleven  of  the  twelve  Judges  (the  Lord 
Chief  Justice  being  absent)  decided 
that  the  evidence  of  one  of  the  wit- 
nesses, against  which  exception  had 


been  taken,  was  competent.  On 
June  27,  Dodd  was  hanged  at 
Tyburn.  Anmial  Register,  1777,  i. 
168,  177, 187,  232.  Horace  Walpole 
wrote  two  days  after  his  execution  : — 
'  Are  you  not  glad,  Madam,  there  is 
an  end  of  talking  of  poor  Dr.  Dodd  1 
I  felt  excessively  for  him,  without 
a  good  opinion,  for  between  the  law 
and  his  friends  he  suffered  a  thousand 
deaths.'  Letters,  vi.  449.  See  Life, 
iii.  1 19-122,  139-148. 

To 


1 2  To  Mrs.  Boswell.  [a.d.  1777. 

521. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Dodd. 

[London,  June  22,  1777].     Published  in  the  Life^  iii.  145. 

522. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  June  24,  1777.       PubHshed  in  the  Life,  iii.  124. 

523. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Dodd. 
[London],  June  26,  1777.     PubHshed  in  the  Life,  iii.  147. 

524. 
To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  June  28,  1777.     PubHshed  in  the  Life,  iii.  120. 

525. 

To  Bennet  Langton. 
[London],  June  29,  1777.     PubHshed  in  the  Life,  iii.  124. 

526. 

To  W.  Sharp,  Junior. 

Bolt-court,  July  7,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  126,  where  it  is 
wrongly  stated  to  be  addressed  to  Edward  Dilly. 

527. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Vyse  '. 
[London],  July  9,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  125. 

528. 
To  Ja.mes  Boswell. 
[London],  July  22,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  127. 

529. 
To  Mrs.  Boswell. 
[Londonl,  July  22,  1777.     Published  in  the  LAfc,  iii.  129. 

To 


Aetat.  67.]  To  the  Reveveiid  Dr.  Partner.  13 


530. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Farmer  \ 
Sir, 

The  booksellers  of  London  have  undertaken  a  kind  of  body 
of  English  poetry,  excluding  generally  the  dramas,  and  I  have 
undertaken  to  put  before  each  authour's  works  a  sketch  of  his  life, 
and  a  character  of  his  writings.  Of  some,  however,  I  know  very 
little,  and  am  afraid  I  shall  not  easily  supply  my  deficiencies. 
Be  pleased  to  inform  me  whether  among  Mr.  Baker's  ^  manuscripts, 
or  anywhere  else  at  Cambridge,  any  materials  are  to  be  found. 
If  any  such  collection  can  be  gleaned,  I  doubt  not  of  your 
willingness  to  direct  our  search,  and  will  tell  the  booksellers  to 
employ  a  transcriber.  If  you  think  my  inspection  necessary, 
I  will  come  down ;  for  who  that  has  once  experienced  the  civilities 
of  Cambridge  would  not  snatch  the  opportunity  of  another 
visit  ^  ? 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  July  22,  1777. 

To  Dr.  Farmer,  Emanuel  Coll.,  Cambridge. 

'  First   published  in  the    Gentle-  writing  two  months  after  the  date  of 

man's  Magazme,  1835,  part  i.  page  Johnson's  letter,  and  offering  to  write 

47.  the  non-juror's  Life^  says  : — '  When 

Johnson  recorded  in  his  Diary  this  martyrs  are  as  sensible  as  Mr.  Baker, 

year  :    '  March   29,  Easter   Eve.      I  I  doubt  my  own  understanding  more 

treated  with  booksellers  on   a   bar-  than  his.     I    know    I   have  not  his 

gain,   but  the   time   was   not  long.'  virtues,  but  should  delight  in  doing 

Pr.  and  Med.,  Tp.  155,     On  April  24,  justice   to   them.'      Letters,  vi.  488. 

Boswell   wrote   to   ask   '  about    this  Baker  had  collected  a  great  mass  of 

edition  of  "  77ie  English  Poets,  with  materials  for  a  work  which  should  do 

a  Preface,  biographical  and  critical,  for  Cambridge  what  Anthony  Wood 

to  each  Authour,  by  Samuel  John-  had    done   for    Oxford.      They    fill 

son,  LL.D."  which  I  see  advertised.'  forty-two  folio  volumes.     'An  index 

Life,  iii.  108.  to  the  whole  series  was  published  in 

^Thomas  Baker  (1656-1740),  a  1848,  and  a  "  Catalogue  "  of  the  con- 
non-juror,  who  on  the  accession  of  tents  of  the  Cambridge  volumes  in 
George  I  was  deprived  of  his  fellow-  1867.'  Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.,  iii.  18. 
ship  at  St.  John's  College,  Cam-  -^  Johnson  had  paid  a  short  visit  to 
bridge,  for  refusing  to  take  the  Cambridge  in  1765,  when  he  was 
abjuration-oath.      Horace    Walpole,  promised,  he  said,  '  an  habitation  in 

To 


14 


To  Henry  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


531. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Vyse  '. 

July  22,  1777. 

If  any  notice  should  be  taken  of  the  recommendation  which 
I  took  the  liberty  of  sending  you,  it  will  be  necessary  to  know 
that  Air.  De  Groot  is  to  be  found  at  No.  8,  in  Pye-street,  West- 
minster. This  information,  when  I  wrote,  I  could  not  give  you; 
and  being  going  soon  to  Lichfield,  think  it  necessary  to  be  left 
behind  me.  More  I  will  not  say.  You  will  want  no  persuasion 
to  succour  the  nephew  of  Grotius, 

I  am,  Sir,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


532. 

To  Henry  Thrale  ^. 

Dear   Sir,  [Oxford],  July  31,  1777. 

I  came  hither  on  Monday,  and  find  every  thing  much  as  I 

expected.     I  shall  not  stay  long,  but  if  you  send  any  letters  to  me 

on  Saturday,  to  University  College,  I  shall  receive  them.     Please 

to  make  my  compliments   to  mistress   and   Oueeney.     I  have 


Emanuel  College,'  of  which  Dr. 
Farmer  was  Master.  Life,  i.  487, 
517.  He  did  not,  I  believe,  visit  the 
University  a  second  time.  See  Life, 
iii.  427,  for  another  Letter  asking 
Farmer  for  information  about  Am- 
brose Philips,  liroome  and  Gray. 

'  First  published  in  Malone's 
edition  of  Boswell. 

Dr.  Vyse  was  Rector  of  Lambeth 
(sec  ante,  i.  148,  n.  3,  for  his  father). 
Johnson  on  July  9  had  'requested 
his  assistance  in  recommending  an 
old  friend  to  the  Archbishop,  as 
( lovernor  of  the  Charter-house.  His 
name  is  De  Groot ;  he  was  born  iit 
(iioucestcr  ;  I  have  known  him  many 
years.  He  has  all  the  common  claims 
to  charity,  being  old,  poor,  and  infirm, 
in  a  great  degree.  He  has  likewise 
another  claim,  to  which  no  scholar 


can  refuse  attention  ;  he  is  by  several 
descents  the  nephew  of  H  ugo  Grotius ; 
of  him,  from  whom  perhaps  every 
man  of  learning  has  learnt  something. 
Let  it  not  be  said  that  in  any  lettered 
country  a  nephew  of  Grotius  asked  a 
charity  and  was  refused.'  The  appli- 
cation was  successful.  Life,  iii.  125. 
'  In  the  Charter-house  are  main- 
tained eighty  pensioners,  who,  accord- 
ing to  the  institution,  are  gentlemen, 
merchants,  or  soldiers,  who  are  fallen 
into  misfortunes.  These  are  provided 
with  handsome  apartments,  and  all 
the  necessaries  of  life  except  clothes  ; 
instead  of  which  each  of  them  is 
allowed  a  gown  and  £7  per  annum.' 
Dodsley's  Lnvirons  of  London,  ii.  98. 

*  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  348. 

Johnson  had  arrived  at  Oxford  on 
Monday,  July  28. 

picked 


Aetat.  67.]  To  Mts.   ThvaU.  15 


picked  up  some  little  information  for  my  Lives  at  the  library. 

I  know  not  whether  I  shall  go  forward  without  some  regret.     I 

cannot  break  my  promise  to  Boswell  and  the  rest ' ;  but  I  have 

a  good  mind  to  come  back  again. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

533. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dear  Madam,  [Oxford],  August  4, 1777. 

I  did  not  mean  to  express  much  discontent  nor  any  ill- 
humour  in  my  letter.  When  I  went  away  I  knew  that  I  went 
partly  because  I  had  talked  of  going,  and  because  I  was  a  little 
restless.  I  have  been  searching  the  library  for  materials  for  my 
Lives,  and  a  little  I  have  got. 

Things  have  not  gone  quite  well  with  poor  Gwynne.  His 
work  was  finished  so  ill  that  he  has  been  condemned  to  pay 
three  hundred  pounds  for  damages,  and  the  sentence  is  considered 
as  very  mild.  He  has  however  not  lost  his  friends,  and  is  still 
in  the  best  houses,  and  at  the  best  tables  ^ 

I  shall  enquire  about  the  harvest  when  I  come  into  a  region 

'  He   had  written  to  Boswell   on  of  the  action  at  law  in  which  Gwynn 

May  3  : — '  My  health  is  very  bad,  and  was  condemned,  but  the  number  is 

my  nights  are  very  unquiet.     What  missing  in  which  in  all  likelihood  a 

can  I  do  to  mend  them  ?      I   have  report    was   given    of    the   Summer 

for   this   summer  nothing  better  in  Assize.      In  1771  John  Gwynn  was 

prospect  than  a  journey  into  Stafford-  appointed  Surveyor  to  the  new  Board 

shire  and  Derbyshire,  perhaps  with  of    Commissioners    of    the    Oxford 

Oxford  and  Birmingham  in  my  way.'  Paving  Act,  at  a  salary  of  ^150  a 

Life,\\\.\o<^.     Boswell  proposed  that  year.     He  directed  the  demolition  of 

they  should  meet  at  Carlisle,  a  city  the  old  gates,  &c.     The  new  Mag- 

which  Johnson  wished  to  see  {ib.  p.  dalen  Bridge  was  designed  by  him, 

118)  ;  but  Johnson  was  loath  to  go  the    Market    and    the    Workhouse, 

so  far  north  (/^.  p.  123).     On  July  22  Owen,    in     John    Chambers's    Bio- 

he  wrote  : — '  I  shall  go  to  Ashbourne,  graphical  Illustrations  of  Worcester- 

and  propose  to  make  Dr.  Taylor  in-  shire,  ed.  1820,  p.  504,  described  him 

vite  you'  (ib.  p.  127).  from  personal  recollection  as  'lively, 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  349.  quick  and   sarcastic,  of  quaint  ap- 

^  I  have  searched  in  vain  in  the  pearance    and    odd   manners.'      He 

records  of  the  City  of  Oxford  for  an  iDuilt  moreover  bridges  at  Worcester 

account   of    this    sentence.      I    had  and  Shrewsbury.     See/^.y/,  Letter  of 

hoped  in  the  set  oi  Jackson's  Oxford  January  30,  1778. 
Journal m  the  Bodleian  to  find  a  report 


w 


here 


1 6  To  Mrs.   Thrale.  [A.B.mi: 


where  any  thing  necessary  to  life  is  understood '.  I  do  not 
beUeve  that  there  is  yet  any  great  harm,  if  the  weather  should 
now  mend.  Reaping  time  will  only  be  a  little  later  than  is 
usual. 

Dr.  Wetherell  is  abroad,  I  think  at  London ;  Mr.  Coulson  is 
here,  and  well^.  Every  body  that  knows  you,  enquires  after 
you. 

Boswell's  project  is  disconcerted,  by  a  visit  from  a  relation  of 
Yorkshire,  whom  he  mentions  as  the  head  of  his  clan^.  Boszy, 
you  know,  makes  a  huge  bustle  about  all  his  own  motions,  and 
all  mine.  I  have  inclosed  a  letter  to  pacify  him,  and  reconcile 
him  to  the  uncertainties  of  human  life. 

I  believe  it  was  after  I  left  your  house,  that  I  received  a  pot  of 
orange  marmalade  from  Mrs.  Boswell.  We  have  now,  I  hope, 
made  it  up.     I  have  not  opened  my  pot"*. 

I  have  determined  to  leave  Oxford  to-morrow  ^,  and  on  Thurs- 
day hope  to  see  Lichfield,  where  I  mean  to  rest  till  Dr.  Taylor 
fetches  me  to  Ashbourne,  and  there  I  am  likely  enough  to  stay 
till  you  bid  me  come  back  to  London. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

534. 

To  James  Boswell. 
Oxford,  August  4,  1777.     Published  in  the  Zt/e,  iii.  130. 

'  Johnson  in  a  letter  to  the  Master  Coulson  see  an/e,  i.  313,  323. 

of  University  College  speaks  of  'our  ^  Squire  Godfrey  BosvilJe,  of  Gun- 

scholastick    ignorance   of  mankind.'  thwait,  '  my  Yorkshire  chief,' as  Bos- 

/.Z/'^',  ii.  425.  It  had  been  complained  well  calls  him.     Z//Q?,  ii.  169  ;  111.439. 

of  before  his  time,  as  is  shown  by  the  For  Johnson's  pacifying  letter  see  z'd. 

following;  passage  in  T/ie  Guardia7i,  iii.  130. 

No.  X,   March  23,  1712-13: — 'I  am  *  Johnson's     acknowledgment     of 

very  glad   to   hear,  being   myself  a  the  pot  does  not  seem  strictly  accu- 

Fellow  of  Lincoln  College,  that  there  rate.     He  wrote  to  Mrs.  Boswell  on 

is  at  last  in  one  of  our  Universities  July  22:  'Though  I  am  well  enough 

arisen  a  happy  genius  for  little  things.  pleased  with  the  taste  of  sweetmeats. 

It  is  extremely  to  be  lamented,  that  very  little  of  the  pleasure  which  I  re- 

hithcrto  we  come  from  the  college  as  ceived  at  the  arrival  of  your  jar  of 

unable  to  put  on  our  own  clothes  as  marmalade  arose  from  eating  it.'    lb. 

we  do  from  nurse.'  iii.  129. 

'For    Dr.     Wetherell     and     Mr.  ^  Tuesday,  August  5. 

To 


Aetat.  67.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


17 


535. 


To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 


Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  August  7,  1777. 

On  Tuesday  I  left  Oxford,  and  came  to  Birmingham.  Mr, 
Hector  is  well ;  Mrs.  Careless  ^  was  not  at  home.  Yesterday 
I  came  hither.  Mrs.  Porter  is  well.  Mrs.  Aston  ^  to  whom  I 
walked  before  I  sat  down,  is  very  ill,  but  better.  Whether  she 
will  recover  I  know  not.  If  she  dies  I  have  a  great  loss.  Mr. 
Green"*  is  well,  and  Mrs.  Adey^,  more  I  have  not  yet  seen.  At 
Birmingham  I  heard  of  the  death  of  an  old  friend,  and  at  Lich- 
field of  the  death  of  another^.  Anni prcedantiir  amies'^.  One 
was  a  little  older,  the  other  a  little  younger  than  myself. 

But  amidst  these  privations  the  present  must  still  be  thought 
on,  we  must  act  as  if  we  were  to  live.  My  barber,  a  man  not 
unintelligent,  speaks  magnificently  of  the  harvest  ;  and  Frank, 
whom  I  ordered  to  make  his  observations,  noted  fields  of  very 
fine  shew  as  we  passed  along. 

Lucy  thinks  nothing  of  my  prologue  for  Kelly,  and  says  she 
has  always  disowned  it^.  I  have  not  let  her  know  my  trans- 
actions with  Dr.  Dodd^.  She  says,  she  takes  Miss's  corre- 
spondence very  kindly. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  i-  SS'- 
^  Hector's  sister.     Ante,  i.  164. 
Ante,  ii.  3. 
Ante,  i.  161. 
Ante,  i.  331. 
Post,  p.  20. 
'  '  Singula  de  nobis  anni  praedantur 
euntes.' 

Horace.    2  Epis.  ii.  55. 
'  Years     following    years      steal 
something  every  day.' 

Pope.  I/nitatw?is,  1.  72. 
**  '  He  wrote  a  Prologue  which  was 
spoken  before  A  Word  to  the  Wise, 
a  comedy  by  Mr.  Hugh  Kelly  which 
had  been  brought  upon  the  stage  in 
1770  ;  but  Kelly  being  a  writer  for 

VOL.  IL  C 


ministry,  in  one  of  the  newspapers,  it 
fell  a  sacrifice  to  popular  fury,  and  in 
the  playhouse  phrase,  was  damned. 
By  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Harris,  the 
proprietor  of  Covent  Garden  theatre, 
it  was  now  exhibited  for  one  night,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  author's  widow  and 
children.'  Life,\\\.  113.  'Lucy'  is 
his  step-daughter,  Miss,  or  as  she 
was  now  called,  Mrs.  Porter. 

'  Johnson  wrote  petitions  and 
letters  for  Dodd,  as  well  as  his  speech 
when  sentence  of  death  was  about  to 
be  pronounced,  and  The  Co7ivicfs 
Address  to  his  unhappy  Brethren, 
lb.  iii.  121,  141.  In  the  British 
Museum   (Add.  MSS.  24419),  in  a 

To 


i8 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


536. 


To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 


Dear   Madam,  Lichfield,  August  9,  1777. 

No  great  matter  has  happened  since  I  wrote,  but  this  place 
grows  more  and  more  barren  of  entertainment.  Two  whom  I 
hoped  to  have  seen  are  dead.  I  think  that  I  am  much  more 
unwieldy  and  inert  than  when  I  was  here  last ;  my  nights  are 
very  tedious.     But  a  light  heart,  &c.^ 

Lucy  said,  '  When  I  read  Dr.  Dodd's  sermon  to  the  prisoners 
I  said,  Dr.  Johnson  could  not  make  a  better.' 

One  of  Lucy's  maids  is  dreadfully  tormented  by  the  taenia,  or 
long-worm.     She  has  taken  many  medicines  without  effect,  and 


Letter  dated  Rectory,  Great  Warley, 
Essex,  December  i8,  1834,  from 
Hastings  Robinson,  B.D.,  Late 
Fellow  and  Tutor  of  St.  John's 
College,  Cambridge,  to  John  Murray 
of  Albemarle  Street,  is  the  following 
anecdote  '  communicated  to  me  many 
years  since,'  says  the  writer,  *  by  one 
of  the  party,  and  taken  down  in  writ- 
ing at  the  time':— 'Miss  Seward, 
her  father,  the  Rev.  R.  G .  Robinson  of 
Lichfield,  and  Dr.  Johnson  were  pass- 
ing the  day  at  the  Palace  at  Lichfield, 
of  which  Mr.  vSeward  was  the  oc- 
cupier. The  conversation  turned 
upon  Dr.  Dodd,  who  had  been 
recently  executed.  It  proceeded  as 
follows  : — 

'Miss  Seward.  — "I  think.  Dr. 
Johnson,  you  applied  to  Mr.  Jenkin- 
son  in  his  behalf." 

'Dr.  Johnson.  — "Why  yes, 
Madam.  I  knew  it  was  a  man 
having  no  interest  writing  to  a  man 
who  had  no  interest  ;  but  I  thought 
with  myself,  when  Dr.  Dodd  comes 
to  the  place  of  execution  he  may  say, 
'Had  Dr.  Johnson  written  in  my  be- 
half, I  had  not  I)een  here,'  and  (with 
great  emphasis)  I  could  not  bear  the 
thought." 


'  Miss  Seward.—"  But,  Dr.  John- 
son, would  you  have  pardoned  Dr. 
Dodd?" 

'  Dr.  Johnson.—"  Madam,  had  I 
been  placed  at  the  head  of  the  legis- 
lature, I  should  certainly  have  signed 
his  death-warrant  ;  though  no  law 
either  human  or  divine  forbids  our 
deprecating  punishment  either  for 
ourselves  or  others."  ' 

Johnson's  letter  to  Jenkinson 
(afterwards  Earl  of  Liverpool)  is  in 
the  Life,  iii.  145.  It  is  most  improb- 
able that  he  spoke  of  him  as  '  a  man 
who  had  no  interest.'  He  was  at 
this  time  Secretary  at  War,  and  justly 
suspected  for  his  private  influence 
with  the  King.  Burke,  on  May  14  of 
this  year,  attacked  him  in  the  House 
'  as  the  real  Minister.'  Pari.  Hist.y 
xix.  251. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  352. 
'         '  Had  she  been  light,  like  you, 
Of  such  a  merr}',  nimble,  stir- 
ring spirit. 
She  might  ha'  been  a  grandam 

ere  she  died  ; 
And  so  may  you  :  for  a  light 
heart  lives  long.' 
Lovers   Labour's   Lost,    Act    v. 
sc.  2. 

it 


Aetat.  67.]  To  Mvs.  Th7'ale.  1 9 

it  is  much  wished  that  she  could  have  the  Knightsbridge  powder. 
I  will  pay  for  it,  if  you,  dear  Madam,  will  be  so  kind  as  to  pro- 
cure it,  and  send  it  with  directions.  Can  it  be  franked  '  ?  If  it 
cannot,  the  best  way  will  be  to  unite  it  with  something  of  greater 
bulk.  I  have  promised  Lucy  to  give  her  Cook's  last  voyage,  for 
she  loves  prints  ;  but  the  last  voyage  cannot  be  well  understood 
without  some  knowledge  of  the  former.  If  you  will  lend  us 
Hawkesworth's  books,  they  shall  be  carefully  returned  ^.  If  you 
will  do  this  for  us,  the  powders  may  be  easily  put  up  with  the 
books. 

Please  to  make  my  compliments  to  Master  ^,  and  to  Queeney. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

537. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale''. 

Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  August  13,  1777. 

Such  tattle  as  filled  your  last  sweet  letter  prevents  one  great 
inconvenience  of  absence,  that  of  returning  home  a  stranger  and 
an  enquirer.  The  variations  of  life  consist  of  little  things. 
Important  innovations  are  soon  heard,  and  easily  understood. 
Men  that  meet  to  talk  of  physicks  or  metaphysicks,  or  law  or 
history,  may  be  immediately  acquainted.  We  look  at  each  other 
in  silence,  only  for  want  of  petty  talk  upon  slight  occurrences ^ 
Continue  therefore  to  write  all  that  you  would  say. 

'  The  weight  of  a  packet  franked  under  the  title  of  A  Voyage  towards 

by  a  Member  of  ParHament  could  not  the  South  Pole,  a7id  round  the  World 

at  this  time  exceed  two  ounces.     It  in  the  years  1772-5. 

was  afterwards  reduced  to  one  ounce.  ^  Mr.  Thrale. 

Official  franks,  before  the  abolition  of  ''  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  354. 

the  system,  'had  been  used  to  free  a  ^  Johnson  never  for  one  moment 

great  coat,  a  bundle  of  baby-linen,  felt  as  Wordsworth  did  about  '  per- 

and  a  piano-forte.'     Letters  of  Hume  sonal  talk.'      He  would  never  have 

to  Strahan,  p.  188,  n.  11.  said: — 

^  Cook's  '  former  voyage  '  was  in  '  Better  than    such  discourse  doth 

the  years   1 768-1 771.     The  account  silence  long, 

of  it  is  in  volume  ii.  of  Hawkesworth's  Long,  barren  silence  square  with 

Voyages  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere,  my  desire.' 

published   in    1773    in  3  vols.     His  See  Life,  ii.  359,  where  he  says: — 

'  last  voyage '  was  published  in  1777,  'That  is  the   happiest  conversation 

C  2  You 


20 


To  Mrs.  Tlirale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


You  have  Lord  Westcote '  and  every  body  when  I  am  away, 
and  you  go  to  Mr.  Cator's^,  and  you  are  so  happy. 

Miss  Turton  and  Harry  Jackson  are  dead-'.  Mrs.  Aston  is,  I 
am  afraid,  in  great  danger.  Mr.  Green,  Mr.  Garrick'*,  and  Mr, 
Newton^  are  all  well.  I  have  been  very  faint  and  breathless 
since  I  came  hither,  but  fancy  myself  better  this  day.  I  hope 
Master's  walk  will  be  finished  when  I  come  back,  and  I  shall 
perambulate  it  very  often. 

There  seems  to  be  in  this  country  scarcely  any  fruit,  there 
never  indeed  was  much'';  but  great  things  have  been  said  of  the 
harvest,  and  the  only  fear  is  of  the  weather.  It  rains  here  almost 
every  day. 

I  dined  yesterday  with  the  corporation,  and  talked  against  a 


where  there  is  no  competition,  no 
vanity,  but  a  cairn  quiet  interchange 
of  sentiments.'  'Those  persons,' 
writes  Burke,  '  who  creep  into  the 
hearts  of  most  people,  who  are 
chosen  as  the  companions  of  their 
softer  hours,  and  their  reliefs  from 
care  and  anxiety,  are  never  persons 
of  shining  qualities  norstrongvirtues.' 
On  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful,  ed. 
1759.  P-  206. 

'  Lord  Westcote  was  the  Mr. 
Lyttelton  who  invited  Johnson  to 
Haglcy  in  1771  {ante,  i.  177),  and 
whom  he  visited  with  the  Thrales  in 
1774,  when  'they  were  disappointed 
of  the  respect  and  kindness  that  they 
expected.'  Life,  v.  456.  Baretti  in 
a  note  on  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  42,  says 
that  'Johnson  was  never  pleased  a 
moment  with  Lord  Wcstcote's  con- 
versation, which  indeed  is  dull 
enough.' 

"  Ante,  i.  355. 

'  Miss  Turton  was,  I  suppose,  the 
friend  whose  death  Johnson  heard 
of  at  Birmingham,  and  Harry  Jack- 
son the  friend  whose  death  he  heard 
of  at  Lichfield.  Ante,  ii.  17.  P'or 
Jackson  see  ante,  i.  378. 

*  IVtcr  C.arrick,  the  actor's  eldest 


brother.  The  two  brothers  for  a  short 
time  had  been  partners  in  the  wine 
trade  in  Durham  Yard  in  the  Strand. 
'  Peter  was  calm,  sedate,  and  metho- 
dical ;  David  was  gay,  volatile  and 
impetuous.'  Davies's  Life  of  Gar- 
rick,  i.  16.  Boswell  describes  Peter 
Garrick  as  '  strongly  resembling 
David  in  countenance  and  voice,  but 
of  more  sedate  and  placid  manners.' 
Life,  ii.  311,  462. 

^  The  Thrales  and  Johnson  had 
called  on  Mr.  Newton  in  July,  1774. 
lb.  v.  428.  He  was  perhaps  related 
to  Thomas  Newton,  Bishop  of  Bristol, 
who  was  a  Lichfield  man.  lb.  iv. 
285. 

**  'Boswell.— "  Is  not  a  good 
garden  a  very  common  thing  in  Eng- 
land, Sir?"  Johnson:  "Not  so 
common,  Sir,  as  you  imagine.  In 
Lincolnshire  there  is  hardly  an 
orchard  ;  in  Staffordshire  very  little 
fruit.'"  lb.  iv.  205.  'The  greater 
part  of  the  apples,  and  even  of  the 
onions,  consumed  in  Great  Britain, 
were  in  the  last  century  [the  seven- 
teenth] imported  from  Flanders.' 
Wealth  of  Nations,  ed.  iSii,  i.  105. 
See  ib.  p.  210. 

workhouse 


Aetat.  67.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


21 


workhouse'  which  they  have  in  contemplation'^ — there's  the  word 
now.  I  do  not  know  that  they  minded  me,  for  they  said  nothing 
to  me. 

I  have  had  so  little  inclination  to  motion  that  I  have  always 
gone  the  shortest  way  to  Stowhill,  and  hardly  any  where  else,  so 
that  I  can  tell  you  nothing  new  of  Green's  museum,  but  I  design 
to  visit  him,  and  all  friends. 

I  hope  for  a  letter  to-morrow,  for  you  must  not  forget  that 
I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

P.S.  Why  cannot  Oueeney  write? 

538. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  I 

Dear  Madam,  _  Lichfield,  August  23, 1777. 

At  Lichfield  ?     Yes  ;  but  not  well.     I  have  been  trying  a 
great    experiment    with    ipecacuanha,   which    Akensyde'^    had 


'  Johnson  defines  ivorkhouse  as  '  a 
place  where  idlers  and  vagabonds  are 
condemned  to  labour.'  Hutton  in 
his  History  of  Derby,  published  in 
1791  (p.  59),  says  that  the  design  of 
workhouses,  all  of  which  had  been 
established  within  memory,  '  was  an 
asylum  for  distress  and  a  cure  for  the 
beggar.'  As  they  are  managed  '  they 
are  the  nurseries  of  idleness,  the 
corrupters  of  manners,  the  slaughter- 
houses of  infants,  and  the  plagues  of 
old  age.'  In  them  perhaps  not  one 
infant  in  ten  arrives  at  maturity.  The 
old  and  weak  '  are  brow-beaten  by 
the  governor,  and  hunted  by  the 
rude.'  Hutton  had  been  an  active 
Overseer  of  the  Poor,  and  so  spoke 
with  authority.  In  G.  M.  Berkeley's 
Poems,  published  in  1797,  Introduc- 
tion, p.  3 10,  it  is  stated  that '  most  well- 
regulated  Bridewells  are  Paradises 
compared  to  the  Oxford  Work- 
house.    Nothing  out  of  the  infernal 


regions  can  be  worse  or  worse  con- 
ducted.' 

-  Landor  in  his  Imaginary  Con- 
versations: Johnson  and  Home  Tooke, 
makes  Tooke  say  : — '  We  do  many 
things  now  which  we  never  thought 
of  doing  formerly.  We  contemplate 
going  to  a  ball  and  dancing  a 
fandango.'  Landor's  Works,  ed. 
1876,  iv.  249.  To  cotitemplate  John- 
son defines  : — '  To  muse,  to  think 
studiously  with  long  attention.' 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  356. 

''  Mark  Akenside,  the  poet  and 
physician.  He  used  to  frequent 
Tom's  Coffee-house  in  Devereux 
Court,  close  to  Johnson's  haunts, 
where  no  doubt  the  two  men  often 
met.  One  evening  '  Saxby  of  the 
Custom  House'  attacked  the  pro- 
fession of  physic,  which  Akenside 
defended.  'Doctor,'  said  Saxby, 
'  after  all  you  have  said,  my  opinion 
of  the  profession  of  physic  is  this  : 

inclined 


22 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


inclined  me  to  consider  as  a  remedy  for  all  constrictions  of  the 
breath.  Lawrence'  indeed  told  me  that  he  did  not  credit  him, 
and  no  credit  can  I  find  him  to  deserve.  One  night  I  thought 
myself  the  better  for  it,  but  there  is  no  certainty.  On  Wednes- 
day night  I  took  ten  grains ;  the  night  was  restless.  On 
Thursday  morning  I  took  ten  grains  ;  the  night  again  was  rest- 
less. On  P>iday  night  I  took  twenty  grains,  which  Akensyde 
mentions  as  the  utmost  that  on  these  occasions  he  has  ventured 
to  give  ;  the  night  was  perhaps  rather  worse.  I  shall  therefore 
take  truce  with  ipecacuanha.  Tell  me,  if  you  can,  what  I  shall 
do  next. 

Mr.  Thrale's  heart  may  be  at  rest.  It  is  not  fine  Mrs.  Anne 
that  has  been  caught  by  the  taenia^,  but  Mrs.  Anne  tumbled 
down  stairs  last  night,  and  bruised  her  face.  Both  maid  and 
mistress  are  very  grateful  to  you  for  the  kindness  with  which  you 
procured  the  powders,  and  directed  their  use.  They  have  not 
yet  been  tried.  It  has  been  washing  week  ;  and  I  suppose  every 
body  shrinks  a  little  from  such  rough  remedies,  of  which  at  last 
the  success  is  doubtful.  However  it  will,  I  think,  be  tried  in  all 
its  formalities. 

My  master  may  plant  and  dig  till  his  pond  is  an  ocean,  if  he 
can  find  water,  and  his  parterre  a  down  ^.  I  have  no  doubt  of  a 
most  abundant  harvest ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  produce  of  barley 
is  particularly  great.  We  are  not  far  from  the  great  year  of  a 
hundred  thousand  ban-els,  which,  if  three  shillings   be   gained 


The  ancients  endeavoured  to  make 
it  a  science,  and  failed ;  and  the 
moderns  to  make  it  a  trade,  and  have 
succeeded.'  Hawkins's  yr'/z/z-fw?,  pp. 
244  6.  In  my  edition  of  the  Life,  iii. 
22,  n.  4,  I  assign  by  mistake  this 
sarcasm  to  Ballow,  a  lawyer.  Burton 
in  the  Anatoviy  of  Mclaticholy,  ed. 
1660,  p.  373,  quotes  Mat.  Riccius  as 
saying  of  the  physic  in  China  there 
is  'no  science,  no  school,  no  art,  no 
degree,  but  like  a  trade  every  man  in 
private  is  instructed  of  his  master.' 
Dr>-dcn  in  his  Prologue  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  says  : — 


'  So    poetry,   which    is    in    Oxford 
made 
An     art,    in    London    only    is    a 

trade.' 
Dryden's  Poems,  Aldine  ed.  iii.  89. 
'  Ante,  i.  47,  n.  2. 
'  Ante,  ii.  18. 

'  Johnson  defines  f>arterre  as  'a 
level  division  of  ground  that  for  the 
most  part  faces  the  south  and  best 
front  of  an  house,  and  is  generahy 
furnished  with  greens  and  flowers, 
(S:c.'  Greens  he  does  not  define  in 
its  modern  sense  as  a  vegetable  food, 
but  as  '  leaves  ;  branches  ;   wreaths.' 

upon 


Aetat.  67.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


23 


upon  each  barrel,  will  bring  us  fifteen  thousand  pounds  a-year. 
•  »  »  »  *  never  pretended  to  more  than  thirty  pounds  a-day, 
which  is  not  eleven  thousand  a-year.  But  suppose  we  shall  get 
but  two  shillings  a  barrel,  that  is  ten  thousand  a-year,  I  hope 
we  still  have  the  advantage.  Would  you  for  the  other  thousand 
have  my  master  such  a  man  as  ****»'  ? 

I  showed  dear  Queeney's  letter  to  Mrs.  Aston  and  Mrs.  Porter, 
they  both  took  her  remembrance  of  them  very  kindly. 

It  was  well  done  by  Mr.  Brooke  to  send  for  you.  His  house  is 
one  of  my  favourite  places.  His  water  is  very  commodious,  and 
the  whole  place  has  the  true  old  appearance  of  a  little  country 
town^.     I  hope  Miss  goes,  for  she  takes  notice. 


'  Mrs.  Piozzi  in  a  marginal  note 
fills  up  the  gap  with  the  name  of 
Whitbread,  and  adds  : — '  He  asked 
me  to  marry  him  after  Mr.  Thrale's 
death,  when  his  fortune  was  much 
increased  ;  on  my  refusal  (he  had 
three  children)  Lady  Mary  Corn- 
wallis  accepted  his  hand.'  Hayward's 
Piozzi,  i.  309.  Horace  Walpole  in 
1 78 1  speaks  of  '  Mr.  Whitbread,  the 
brewer,  and  his  insolent  wealth.' 
Leite-zs,  vii.  496.  Johnson,  posi, 
Letter  of  October  24,  1778,  speaks  of 
'  the  ambition  of  out-brewing  Whit- 
bread'; and  Letter  of  November  16, 
1 779,  of  '  Mr.  Thrale's  desire  of  being 
the  first  brewer.'  See  aiiie,  i.  194, 
n.  1,  for  Johnson's  identification  of 
himself  with  the  Thrales  in  his  use 
of  we.  In  1759-60  Whitbread  was 
second  and  Thrale  eighth  among  the 
brewers,  the  amount  of  barrels  brewed 
by  each  being  as  follows  : — 

Whitbread     .         .         .     63,400 
Thrale  ....     32,700 
Annual  Register,    1760,   i.   174.     In 
1786-7    Whitbread    was    first    and 
Thrale  third,  as  is  shown  in  Pennant's 
London,  ed.  1790,  p.  279  : — 

Barrels. 
Whitbread,  Samuel  .  150,280 
Calvert,  Felix  .  .  131,043 
Thrale,  Hester    .         .     105,559 


The  Annual  Register  for  1797,  ii. 

^•j,  shows  that  Thrale's 

Brewery  is 

second  : — 

1795-6. 

Barrels. 

Whitbread  . 

202,000 

Thrale 

137,810 

1796-7. 

Whitbread  . 

192,740 

Thrale 

141,590 

Calvert  had  fallen  to  the  fifth  place. 
Though  Mrs.  Thrale  sold  her  brewery 
to  Messrs.  Barclay  and  Perkins  in 
1 78 1  {Life,  iv.  132),  the  style  of  the 
firm  was  not,  it  seems,  changed 
so  late  as  1797. 

-  Mr.  Francis  Brooke,  'an  eminent 
attorney-at-law,'  lived  near  the  Abbey 
at  Town  Mailing  or  West  Mailing,  a 
small  country  town  on  the  road 
between  Wrotham  and  Maidstone. 
Hasted's  History  of  Kent,  ed.  1782, 
ii.  219.  Johnson,  as  his  Diary  shows, 
spent  his  birthday  there  in  1768.  Pr. 
and  Med.,  p.  81.  Mrs.  Thrale  wrote 
to  him  on  September  18,  1777  : — 
'  Come,  here  is  news  of  Town-mailing 
— the  quiet  old-fashioned  place  in 
Kent,  that  you  like  so  because  it  was 
agreeable  to  your  own  notions  of  a 
rural  life  ;  I  believe  we  were  the  first 
people,  except  the  master  of  it,  who 
had  for  many  years  taken  delight  in 

The 


24 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


The  races  are  next  week.  People  seem  to  be  weary 
of  them,  for  many  go  out  of  town  I  suppose  to  escape  the 
cost  of  entertaining  company.  Dr.  Taylor  will  probably 
come,  and  probably  take  me  away  ;  and  I  shall  leave  Mrs. 
Aston. 

Do  not  you  lose,  nor  let  Master  lose,  the  kindness  that 
you  have  for  me.  Nobody  will  ever  love  you  both  better 
than,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

539. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 

Dear   Madam,  Lichfield,  [Wednesday],  August  27,  1777. 

Our  correspondence  is  not  so  vigorous  as  it  used  to  be ; 
but  now  you  know  the  people  at  Lichfield,  it  is  vain  to  describe 
them,  and  as  no  revolutions  have  happened,  there  is  nothing  to 
be  said  about  them.  We  have  a  new  Dean,  whose  name  is 
Proby  ;  he  has  the  manners  of  a  gentleman,  and  some  spirit 
of  discipline,  which  brings  the  cathedral  into  better  method. 
He  has  a  lady  that  talks  about  Mrs.  Montague  and  Mrs. 
Carter  ^ 


the  old  coach  without  springs,  the 
two  roasted  ducks  in  one  dish,  the 
fortified  flower  garden,  and  fir  trees 
cut  in  figures. — A  spirit  of  innovation 
has  however  reached  even  these  at 
last. — The  roads  are  mended  ;  no 
more  narrow  shaded  lanes,  but  clear 
open  turnpike  trotting.  A  yew  hedge, 
or  an  cugh  hedge  if  you  will  [see 
ante,  i.  286,  n.  5],  newly  cut  down 
too  by  his  nephew's  desire.  Ah 
those  nephews !  And  a  wall  pulled 
away,  which  bore  incomparable  fruit 
—to  call  in  the  country — is  the 
phrase.  Mr.  Thrale  is  wicked  enough 
to  urge  on  these  rough  reformers  ; 
how  it  will  end  I  know  not.  For 
your  comfort,  the  square  canals  still 
drop    into    one    another ;     and    the 


chocolate  is  still  made  in  the  room 
by  a  maid,  who  curtsies  as  she 
presents  every  cup.  Dear  old  Daddy 
Brooke  looks  well  and  even  hand- 
some at  eighty-one  years  old  ;  while 
I  saw  his  sister,  who  is  ninety-four 
years  old,  and  calls  him  Frankey,  eat 
more  venison  at  a  sitting  than  Mr. 
Thrale.'  Piozzi Letlcrs^\.y]().  There 
was  a  fashion  at  this  time,  not  only 
to  pull  away  garden  walls,  but  to  cut 
down  fine  avenues,  so  as  to  call  in 
the  country — to  give  a  wider  view, 
that  is  to  say.     See  Life,  v.  439. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  359. 

""  For  the  old  Dean  see  ante, 
i.  300. 

The  new  Dean's  lady  was,  it  seems, 
a  somewhat  haughty  lady.     I  heard 

On 


Aetat.  67.] 


To  Mrs.  Tkrale. 


25 


On  next  Saturday  I  go  to  Ashbourne,  and  thither  must  my 
letters  be  sent,  if  you  are  pleased  ever  to  write  to  me. 

When  I  came  hither  I  could  hardly  walk,  but  I  have  got  better 
breath,  and  more  agility.  I  intend  to  perambulate  Master's 
dominions '  every  day  at  least  once.  But  I  have  miserable,  dis- 
tressful, tedious  nights ;  do  you  think  they  will  mend  at  Bright- 
helmstone? 

When  I  come  to  Ashbourne  I  will  send  my  dear  Queeney  an 
account  how  I  find  things,  for  I  hope  she  takes  an  interest  in 
Dr.  Taylor's  prosperity. 

This  is  race  week  ;  but  Mrs.  Aston,  Mrs.  Porter,  and  myself 
have  no  part  in  the  course,  or  at  the  ball.  We  all  sit  at  home, 
and  perhaps  pretend  to  wonder  that  others  go,  though  I  cannot 
charge  any  of  us  with  much  of  that  folly  ^  Mrs.  Gastrel,  who 
wraps  her  head  in  a  towel,  is  very  angry  at  the  present  mode  of 
dress  and  feathers  ^. 

But  amidst  all  these  little  things,  there  is  one  great  thing. 
The  harvest  is  abundant,  and  the  weather  a  la  merveille  '*.  No 
season  ever  was  finer.  Barley,  malt,  beer,  and  money.  There 
is  the  series  of  ideas.  The  deep  logicians  call  it  a  sorites.  I 
hope  my  master  will  no  longer  endure  the  reproach  of  not 
keeping  me  a  horse  ^. 

The  puppies  played  us  a  vile  trick  when  they  tore  my  letter, 
but  I  hope  my  loss  will  be  repaired  to-morrow.  You  are  in  the 
way  of  business  and  intelligence,  and  have  something  to  write. 


at  Lichfield  the  following  verse 
quoted  from  some  lines  written 
against  her  : — ■ 

'  She  would  far  sooner  from  the 
steeple  fling  her, 

Than  let  a  tradesman  touch  her 
highborn  finger.' 

Her  talk  about  Mrs.  Montagu 
and  the  learned  Mrs.  Carter  shows 
that  she  was  somewhat  of  a  Blue- 
stocking. 

'  Mr.  Thrale's  park  at  Streatham. 

^  'Sir,'  said  Johnson,  'I  am  a 
great  friend  to  public  amusements ; 
for  they  keep  people  from  vice.' 
Life,  ii.  169. 


^  Ante,  i.  258.  Mrs.  Gastrell  was 
Mrs.  Aston's  sister. 

"  He  ought  to  have  said  a  mer- 
veille. The  earlier  part  of  the 
summer  had  been  very  wet.  Ante, 
ii.  16.  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on 
August  4  : — '  One  would  think  the 
elements  this  summer  came  from 
Scotland.'  But  on  September  29  he 
wrote  :  —  'I  did  not  use  to  love 
September,  with  all  its  betweenity  of 
parched  days  and  cold  long  evenings, 
but  this  has  been  all  lustre  and 
verdancy.'     Letters,  vi.  464,  489. 

5  For  Johnson's  hunting  see  ante^ 
i.  349,  n.  4. 

I  am 


26 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[AD.  1777. 


I  am  here  in  unactive  obscurity,  and  have  little  other  pleasure 
than  to  perceive  that  the  poor  languishing  lady '  is  glad  to  see 
me.  I  hope,  dearest  Lady,  you  will  be  glad  to  see  me  too ;  and 
that  it  will  be  long  before  disease  lays  hold  upon  you. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

540. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[Ashbourne],  August  30,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  131. 

541. 

To  James  Boswell. 
Ashbourne,  September  i,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  132. 

542. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dearest   Lady,  [Ashbourne],  Sept.  6,   1777. 

It  is  true  that  I  have  loitered,  and  what  is  worse,  loitered 
with  very  little  pleasure.  The  time  has  run  away,  as  most  time 
runs,  without  account,  without  use,  and  without  memorial.  But 
to  say  this  of  a  few  weeks,  though  not  pleasing,  might  be  borne, 
but  what  ought  to  be  the  regret  of  him  who,  in  a  [q.\v  days,  will 
have  so  nearly  the  same  to  say  of  sixty-eight  years  ?  But  com- 
plaint is  vain. 

If  you  have  nothing  to  say  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
metropolis,  what  can  occur  to  me  in  little  cities  and  petty  towns  ; 
in  places  which  we  have  both  seen,  and  of  Avhich  no  description 
is  wanted  ?  I  have  left  part  of  the  company  with  which  you 
dined  here,  to  come  and  write  this  letter ;  in  which  I  have 
nothing  to  tell,  but  that  my  nights  are  very  tedious.  I  cannot 
persuade  myself  to  forbear  trying  something. 

As  you  have  now  little  to  do,  I  suppose  you  are  pretty  dili- 
gent at  the  Thraliana  ',  and  a  very  curious  collection  posterity 


'  Mrs.  Aston.     Ante,  ii.  17. 
'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  361. 


^  '  Thraliana   is  contained  in  six 
books,  of  about  300  page  seach,  and 

will 


Aetat.  67.]  To  Mrs.  Tkrak.  27 

will  find  it.  Do  not  remit  the  practice  of  writing  down  occur- 
rences as  they  arise,  of  whatever  kind,  and  be  very  punctual  in 
annexing  the  dates.  Chronology  you  know  is  the  eye  of 
history  ;  and  every  man's  life  is  of  importance  to  himself.  Do 
not  omit  painful  casualties,  or  unpleasing  passages,  they  make 
the  variegation  of  existence ;  and  there  are  many  transactions, 
of  which  I  will  not  promise  with  yEneas,  ct  hcEc  olim  meminisse 
juvabit  \  Yet  that  remembrance  which  is  not  pleasant  may  be 
useful.  There  is  however  an  intemperate  attention  to  slight 
circumstances  which  is  to  be  avoided,  lest  a  great  part  of  life  be 
spent  in  writing  the  history  of  the  rest  ^.  Every  day  perhaps 
has  something  to  be  noted,  but  in  a  settled  and  uniform  course 
few  days  can  have  much. 

Why  do  I  write  all  this,  which  I  had  no  thought  of  when  I 
begun  ?  The  Thraliana  drove  it  all  into  my  head.  It  deserves 
however  an  hour's  reflection,  to  consider  how,  with  the  least  loss 
of  time,  the  loss  of  what  we  wish  to  retain  may  be  prevented. 

Do  not  neglect  to  write  to  me,  for  when  a  post  comes  empty, 
I  am  really  disappointed. 

Boswell,  I  believe,  will  meet  me  here. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

extends  over  thirty-two  years  and  a  it  was  [in  1861],  'deemed  it  of  too 

half.      The   first    entry   is    in   these  private  and  delicate  a  character  to  be 

words  : — "  It  is  many  years  since  Dr.  submitted  to  strangers.'    He  supplied 

Johnson  advised  me  to  get  a  Httle  Mr.  Hayvvard  however  with  informa- 

book   and  write   in  it  all   the   little  tion  extracted   from  it.     Hayward's 

anecdotes  which  might  come  to  my  Piozzi,\.  7,  237.     See  her  Anecdotes, 

knowledge Mr.   Thrale   has  p.  45,  and   /.//&,    iv.    343.     Johnson 

now  treated    me  with  a  repository,  often  urges  her  to  '  annex  the  dates  ' 

and  provided  it  with   the  pompous  to  her  letters,  but  with  little  effect, 

title  of  Thraliana.    I  must  endeavour  For  his  advice  to  keep  a  Journal  see 

to  fill  it  with  nonsense,  new  and  old. — •  atite,  i.  362,  71.  i. 

15th    September,    1776."    .   .   .  The  '  yEneid,  i.  203: — 

last:— "30th  March,  1809. — Every-  'An  hour  will  come  with  pleasure 

thing  most  dreaded  has  ensued.  ...  to  relate 

All  is  over,  and  my  second  husband's  Your  sorrows  past  as  benefits    of 

death  is  the  last  thing  recorded  in  Fate.'                         Dryden. 

my  first   husband's  present. — Cruel  ^  '  He  again  advised  me  to  keep  a 

Death!"'     Mr.  Hayward  adds  that  journal  fully  and  minutely,  but  not  to 

Mr.  Salusbury,  in  whose  possession  mention    such   trifles  as,   that  meat 

To 


28 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777- 


543. 


To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 

Dear   Madam,  Ashbourne,  Sept.  8,  1777. 

Surely  the  same  vexatious  interruption  of  our  correspond- 
ence happens  now  that  happened  once  when  I  was  at  Oxford  ^ 
I  write  often,  yet  you  seem  not  to  have  my  letters.  I  charged 
Frank  with  trusting  some  other  hand  to  the  post-office,  this  he 
denies  ;  and  indeed  I  have  answers  to  other  letters. 

I  came  hither  on  Saturday,  August  30th.  The  books  were 
not  then  come ;  but  I  suppose,  according  to  Davies's  letter,  they 
came  that  evening  ^  Of  the  receipt  of  the  powders  I  wrote 
word,  and  told  that  the  girl  delayed  a  little  while  to  take  them. 
From  this  place  I  wrote  to  Miss  last  Thursday,  and  to  you  last 
Saturday.  Nothing  has  been  mentioned  by  you  of  which  I  have 
not  taken  proper  notice,  except  that  I  have  said  nothing  of 
»  ♦  *  *  *  *^.  Many  instances  there  are  of  the  vanity  of  human 
solicitude,  and  it  is  not  strange  to  find  another.  We  were  all 
planning  out  for  him  some  mode  of  life,  and  disease  was  hover- 
ing over  him.  If  he  dies,  his  mother  will  lose  what  has  engaged 
her  care,  and  incited  her  vanity.  The  son  and  the  estate  go 
away  together.  But  life  occupies  us  all  too  much  to  leave  us 
room  for  any  care  of  others  beyond  what  duty  enjoins  ;  and  no 
duty  enjoins  sorrow  or  anxiety  that  is  at  once  troublesome  and 
useless.  I  would  readily  help  the  poor  lady,  but  if  I  cannot  do 
her  good  by  assisting  her,  I  shall  not  disturb  myself  by  lamenting 


was  too  much  or  too  Httle  done,  or 
that  the  weather  was  fair  or  rainy.' 
Life,  ii.  358. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  364. 

^  Ante,  i  327. 

^  The  books  were  Cook's  Voyao;cs. 
Ante,  ii.  19.  '  Davies  wjis  most 
hkely  Tom  Davies,  the  Ijookseller. 
Life,  i.  390. 

*  Mrs.  Thrale  in  a  note,  dated 
September  18,  says  that  she  is 
anxious  about  Quecney,  *  whose  first 
cousin  *  *  *  *  is  now  absolutely  dying 


of  a  consumption.'  Piozzi  Letters, \. 
375.  Johnson,  post,  pp.  29,  34,  38, 
alludes  to  the  same  case.  Baretti  in 
his  notes  says  that  Lady  Lade,  Mr. 
Thrale's  sister  {ante,  i.  219,  n.  3),  is 
the  mother,  and  Sir  John  Lade  the 
invalid  son.  He  describes  him  as 
'  a  most  hopeful  gentleman  that  has 
married  a  harlot.'  Sec  Life,  iv.  412, 
for  an  account  of  him,  and  for  the 
verses  which  Johnson  wrote  on  his 
coming  of  age. 

her  : 


Aetat.  67.]  To  Mvs.  Tlivale.  29 

her':  yet  I  suppose  his  death  will  be  as  hard  a  blow  as  is  com- 
monly felt.  Let  me  know  if  you  hear  how  he  goes  on.  I  go  on 
but  uneasily. 

I  am  in  hopes  of  seeing  Mr.  Boswell,  and  then  he  may  perhaps 
tell  me  something  to  write,  for  this  is  but  a  barren  place.     Not 

a  mouse  stirring  ^ 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 
544. 
To  James  Boswell. 
Ashbourne,  September,  11,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  135. 

545. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^. 

Dear   Madam,  Ashbourne,  Sept.  13,  1777. 

Now  I  write  again,  having  just  received  your  letter  dated 
the  loth. 

You  must  not  let  foolish  fancies  take  hold  on  your  imagina- 
tion. If  Oueeney  grows  tall,  she  is  sufficiently  bulky,  and  as 
much  out  of  danger  of  a  consumption  as  nature  allows  a  young 
maiden  to  be  "*.  Of  real  evils  the  number  is  great,  of  possible 
evils  there  is  no  end.  *****  ^  is  really  to  be  pitied.  Her 
son  in  danger  ;  the  estate  likely  to  pass  not  only  from  her,  but 
to  those  on  whom,  I  suppose,  she  would  least  wish  it  bestowed, 
and  her  system  of  life  broken,  are  very  heavy  blows.  But  she 
will  at  last  be  rich,  and  will  have  much  gratification  in  her  power, 
both  rational  and  sensual. 

'  '  Talking  of  our  feeling  for  the  ''  This  must  be  an  answer  to  one 

distresses  of  others,  Johnson  said  : —  of  Mrs.  Thrale's  Letters,  dated  in  her 

"  Why,  Sir,  there  is  much  noise  made  Collection  five  days  later,  in  which 

about  it,  but  it  is  greatly  exaggerated.  she    writes  :  —  '  Something    always 

No,  Sir,  we  have  a  certain  degree  of  happens  when  you  go  to  Lichfield ; 

feeling   to  prompt  us   to   do  good  :  and  our  sitting  down  thirteen  to  table 

more  than  that.  Providence  does  not  yesterday   made    my    fool's    nerves 

intend.     It  would  be  misery  to  no  flutter    for    Oueeney.    *    *    *    Mr. 

purpose."'     Life,  ii.  94.     See  ante.  Murphy    said,     she     had    a    hectic 

i.  141.  colour.'     Piozzi  Letters,  i.  375. 


^  Hamlet,  Act  i.  sc.  i.  ^  Ante,  ii.  28. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  366. 


Boswell, 


o 


O 


To  Airs.  Aston. 


[A.D.  1777. 


Boswell,  I  believe,  is  coming.  He  talks  of  being  here  to-day. 
I  shall  be  glad  to  see  him.  But  he  shrinks  from  the  Baltick 
expedition,  which  I  think  is  the  best  scheme  in  our  power. 
What  we  shall  substitute,  I  know  not.  He  wants  to  see  Wales, 
but  except  the  woods  of  Bachycraigh  what  is  there  in  Wales  ? 
What  can  fill  the  hunger  of  ignorance,  or  quench  the  thirst  of 
curiosity  '  ?  We  may  perhaps  form  some  scheme  or  other,  but, 
in  the  phrase  of  Hockley  in  the  Hole,  it  is  a  pity  he  has  not  a 
better  bottom  ^. 

Tell  my  young  mistress  that  this  day's  letter  is  too  short,  and 
it  brings  me  no  news  either  foreign  or  domestick. 

I  am  going  to  dine  with  Mr.  Dyot,  and  Frank  tells  sternly, 
that  it  is  past  two  o'clock  '. 

I  am.  dearest  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

546. 

To  Mrs.  Aston''. 
Dear  Madam, 

As  I  left  you  so  much  disordered,  a  fortnight  is  a  long  time 


'  Boswell  had  written  to  Johnson 
on  September  9  : — '  Let  us,  by  all 
means,  have  another  expedition.  I 
shrink  a  little  from  our  scheme  of 
going  up  the  Baltick.  I  am  sorry 
you  have  already  been  in  Wales  ;  for 
I  wish  to  see  it.'  Life,  iii.  134.  After 
Johnson  had  returned  from  Wales  he 
wrote  : — '  Wales  is  so  little  different 
from  England  that  it  offers  nothing 
to  the  speculation  of  the  traveller.' 
lb.  ii.  284.  Bachycraigh  (the  name 
is  spelt  in  a  variety  of  ways)  was  the 
property  of  Mrs.  Thrale.  Johnson 
visited  it  in  1774.     Ih.  v.  436. 

"^  Hockley  in  the  Hole  in  Clerken- 
vvell  is  described  in  the  Spcctiitor, 
No.  436,  as  *  a  place  of  no  small 
renown  for  the  gallantry  of  the  lower 
order  of  Britons.'  See  Life,  iii.  134. 
«.  I.  In  an  account  of  a  prize-fight 
on  Wimbledon  Common  on  April  6, 
1796,  we  read: — 'The   combatants 


set  to  soon  after  two  o'clock,  and 
after  four  rounds  only  the  Irishman 
was  declared  victor.  The  want  of 
what  in  the  language  of  boxers  is 
termed  bottom  on  the  part  of  the 
combatants  disgusted  the  company 
exceedingly.  The  parties  fought  in 
a  hollow,  very  near  the  foot  of  Abber- 
shaw's  Gibbet,  who  seemed  to  regard 
the  combat  with  the  utmost  apathy. 
When  the  victor  had  been  duly 
crowned  with  a  wreath  of  shamrock, 
and  quaffed  a  libation  to  the  memory 
oi  Big  Bin  [Abbershaw,  I  conjecture] 
in  a  pint  of  Liptrap's  best  gin,  the 
cavalcade  moved  towards  the  metro- 
pnlis  with  becoming  decency.'  Sport- 
ing Magazine  for  April,  1796,  p.  46. 

^  Mrs.  Dyot  has  been  mentioned 
before.  Ante,  i.  342.  Frank  was 
Johnson's  black  servant. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well.,  page    539.      Corrected    by  me 

to 


Aetat.  67.]  1^0  Mrs.  Tkrak.  31 

to  be  without  any  account  of  your  health.  I  am  willing  to 
flatter  myself  that  you  are  better,  though  you  gave  me  no  reason 
to  believe  that  you  intended  to  use  any  means  for  your  recovery. 
Nature  often  performs  wonders,  and  will,  I  hope,  do  for  you 
more  than  you  seem  inclined  to  do  for  yourself. 

In  this  weakness  of  body  with  which  it  has  pleased  God  to 
visit  you,  he  has  given  you  great  cause  of  thankfulness,  by  the 
total  exemption  of  your  Mind  from  all  effects  of  your  disorder. 
Your  Memory  is  not  less  comprehensive  or  distinct,  nor  your 
reason  less  vigorous  and  acute,  nor  your  imagination  less  active 
and  spritely  than  in  any  former  time  of  your  life.  This  is  a 
great  Blessing,  as  it  respects  enjoyment  of  the  present,  and 
a  blessing  yet  far  greater  as  it  bestows  power  and  opportunity  to 
prepare  for  the  future. 

All  sickness  is  a  summons.  But  as  you  do  not  want  exhorta- 
tions, I  will  send  you  only  my  good  wishes,  and  intreat '  you  to 
believe  the  good  wishes  very  sincere,  of, 

Dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Ashbourne,  Sept.  13,  1777. 

To  Mrs.  Aston,  at  Stowhill,  Lichfield. 

547. 

To  Mrs.  Thralk  ^ 
Dear    Madam,  [Ashbourne],  Sept.  15,  1777. 

Do  you  call  this  punctual  correspondence?  There  was 
poor  I  writing,  and  writing,  and  writing,  on  the  8th,  on  the  iith^ 
on  the  13th;  and  on  the  15th  I  looked  for  a  letter,  but  I  may 
look  and  look.  Instead  of  writing  to  me  you  are  writing  the 
Thraliana'*.     But — he  must  be  humble  zvho  would  please'^. 

Last  night  came  Boswell.  I  am  glad  that  he  is  come.  He 
seems  to  be  very  brisk  and  lively,  and  laughs  a  little  at  " 


6 

*   +   *   ♦   * 


from     the     original     in     Pembroke  ^  This  letter  is  not  published. 

College  Library.  ''  Ante,  ii.  26,  «.  3. 

'  Johnson  in  his  Dictionary  only  ^  Ante,  i.  352,  n.  i. 

gives  entreat,  but  Bailey  gives  the  *  '  On  Sunday  evening,  September 

word  under  both  forms.  14,  I  arrived  at  Ashbourne,  and  drove 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  368.  directly   up    to    Dr.    Taylor's    door. 

I  told 


32 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


I  told  him  something  of  the  scene  at  Richmond  \  You  find, 
now  you  have  seen  the  progenies  Langtoiiiajia,  that  I  did  not 
praise  them  without  reason  ;  yet  the  second  girl  is  my 
favourite. 

You  talk  of  pine-apples  and  venison.  Pine-apples  it  is  sure 
we  have  none ;  but  venison,  no  forester  that  lived  under  the 
green-wood-tree  ever  had  more  frequently  upon  his  table.  We 
fry,  and  roast,  and  bake,  and  devour  in  every  form. 

We  have  at  last  fair  weather  in  Derbyshire  '^,  and  every  where 
the  crops  are  spoken  of  as  uncommonly  exuberant.  Let  us  now 
get  money  and  save  it.  All  that  is  paid  is  saved,  and  all  that  is 
laid  out  in  land  or  malt.  But  I  long  to  see  twenty  thousand 
pounds  in  the  bank,  and  to  see  my  master  visiting  this  estate  and 
that,  as  purchases  are  advertised  I  But  perhaps  all  this  may  be 
when  Colin's  forgotten  and  gone"*.  Do  not  let  me  be  forgotten 
before  I  am  gone,  for  you  will  never  have  such  another,  as. 

Dearest  dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


Dr.  Johnson  and  he  appeared  before 
I  had  got  out  of  the  post-chaise,  and 
welcomed  me  cordially.'  Life,  ill. 
135.  It  was  Taylor  whom  Bos  well 
laughed  at.  For  his  account  of  that 
*  hearty  English  'Squire,  with  the 
parson  super-induced,'  see  ib.  ii. 
473  ;  iii.  iSo,  and  for  Johnson's  laugh 
at  Taylor,  post,  Letter  of  May  25, 
1780. 

'  Mrs.  Thrale  replied  :  —  'I  am 
glad  the  Richmond  scene  diverted 
you  ;  my  master  laughed  when  I  read 
it  over  to  him.'  Pioszi  Letters,  i. 
y]"].  The  next  passage  in  Johnson's 
letter  leads  me  to  think  that  Bennet 
Langton  was  at  this  time  living  at 
Richmond,  and  that  it  was  his  mode 
of  life  which  was  described.  Life, 
iii.  48,  338.  Mrs.  Thrale  in  her  letter 
of  the  18th    says: — 'Mr.  Thrale  is 

cured  of  his  passion  for  Lady  R 

already.'      Langton's   wife   was   the 


dowager  Lady  Rothes.    For  his  three 
lovely  children  see  ante,  i.  393. 

-  The  weather  in  Staffordshire  had 
been  extraordinarily  fine  nearly  three 
weeks  earlier.     Ante,  ii.  25, 

^  '  Even  j  hnson  could  not  help 
dreaming  felicities  for  himself,  and, 
what  is  more  ridiculous,  for  others. 
The  two  last  years  of  Thrale's  life  his 
Brewery  brought  him  thirty  thousand 
a  year  neat  profit.  Was  it  happy  on 
that  account  ?'    He  died.' — Baretti. 

'•  '  While  Colin  forgotten  and  gone 

No  more  shall    be   talked  of  or 
seen  ; 

Unless     when    beneath   the   pale 
moon. 

His   ghost    shall    glide    over    the 
green.' 
ROVVE.     Campbell's  British  Poets, 
ed.  1845,  p.  334.     'ScQ post.  Letter  of 
April  II,  1 7 to. 

To 


Aetat.  68.]  To  Mts.    T/iralc.  ^  ^ 


548. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 

Dear  Madam,  Ashbourne,  Sept.  1 8, 1777. 

Here  is  another  birth-day.  They  come  very  fast.  I  am 
now  sixty-eight.  To  lament  the  past  is  vain  ;  what  remains  is 
to  look  for  hope  in  futurity.  Oueeney  has  now  passed  another 
year  ^.     I  hope  every  year  will  bring  her  happiness. 

Boswell  is  with  us  in  good-humour  ;  and  plays  his  part  with 
his  usual  vivacity^.  We  are  to  go  in  the  Doctor's  vehicle  and 
dine  at  Derby  to-morrow. 

Do  you  know  any  thing  of  Bolt-court  ?  Invite  Mr.  Levet 
to  dinner,  and  make  enquiry  what  family  he  has,  and  how  they 
proceed  ^  I  had  a  letter  lately  from  Mrs.  Williams.  Dr.  Lewis^ 
visits  her,  and  has  added  ipecacuanha  to  her  bark  :  but  I  do  not 
hear  much  of  her  amendment.  Age  is  a  very  stubborn  disease. 
Yet  Levet  sleeps  sound  every  night  ^.  I  am  sorry  for  poor 
Seward's  pain  ;  but  he  may  live  to  be  better  ^ 

Mr.  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  *  's  erection  of  an  urn  looks  like  an  intention  to 
bury  me  alive ;  I  would  as  willingly  see  my  friend,  however 
benevolent  and  hospitable,  quietly  inurned.  Let  him  think  for 
the  present  of  some  more  acceptable  memorial^. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  370.  *  I  should  never  have  expected 
=  ' Thursday,  September  18.  Last  that  Levett  {Life,  i.  243)  was  ad- 
night  Dr.  Johnson  had  proposed  mitted  to  Mrs.  Thrale's  table.  For 
that  the  crystal  lustre,  or  chandelier,  the  enquiry  about  him  se&posi,  p.  39. 
in  Dr.  Taylor's  large  room,  should  ^  He  is  mentioned  post,  Letter  of 
be  lighted  up  some  time  or  other.  October  16,  1779- 
Taylor  said,  it  should  be  lighted  up  ^  He  slept  too  soundly  one  night 
next  night.  "  That  will  do  very  well  more  than  four  years  later,  when 
(said  I),  for  it  is  Dr.  Johnson's  birth-  'Death  broke  at  once  the  vital 
day."  '     When  we  were  in  the  Isle  of  chain. 

Sky,  Johnson  had  desired  me  not  to  And  freed  his  soul  the  nearest 

mention  his  birth-day.     He  did  not  way.' 

seem    pleased   at   this   time   that    I  Life,  iv.  137-9- 

mentioned    it,   and   said    (somewhat  '  Afite,  i.  346,  n.  I.     He  lived  till 

sternly)    "he   would   not    have   the  1799.  Mme.D'Arblay'sZ)/^iry,vi.2i7. 

lustre  lighted  the  next  day."  '     Life,  ®  Colonel    Myddelton    set    up   an 

iii.  157.     Queeney's  birth-day  came  a  urn  to  him;  but  not,  the  inscription 

day  earlier.  seems  to  show,  till  after  his  death. 

^  '  That  is,  he  makes  more  noise  Life,  iv.  421,  n.2.  Boswell  told  John- 

than  anybody  in   company,    talking  son,  when  they  were  at  Auchinleck, 

and  laughing  loud.'— Baretti.  that  he   intended  to  erect  a  monu- 


VOL.  IL 


D  Does 


34 


To  Mrs.   Tkrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


Does  nobody  tell  *  *  «  that  a  warmer  climate  and  a  clearer 
air  is  likely  to  help  her  son,  and  that  it  may  be  convenient  to 
run  away  from  an  English  winter,  before  he  becomes  too  weak 
for  travel  ?  It  appears  to  me  not  improbable  that  change  of  air, 
and  the  amusement  and  exercise  of  easy  journeys,  might  enable 
one  so  young  to  overcome  his  disease'. 

Dr.  Taylor  has  another  buck.  You  must  not  talk  to  us  of 
venison.  Fruit  indeed  we  have  little,  and  that  little  not  very 
good  ;  but  what  there  is  has  been  very  liberally  bestowed ". 

Mr.  L ^and  the  Doctor  still  live  on  different  sides  of  the 

street. 

We  have  had,  for  some  time  past,  such  harvest  weather  as 

a  Derbyshire  farmer  dares  scarcely  hope.     The  harvest  has  this 

year  been  every  where  a  month  backward,  but  so  far  as  I  can 

hear,  has  recompensed  the  delay  by  uncommon  plenty.     Next 

year  will,  I  hope,  complete  Mr.  Thrale's  wish  of  an  hundred 

thousand   barrels'*.     Ambition  is  then  to  have  an  end,  and  he 

must  remember,  that  non  mino7'  est  virtus  quam  qucsrere,  paria 

tuere''.     When  he  has  climbed  so  high,  his  care  must  be  to  keep 

himself  from  falling.  ,  ,        ,,    , 

1  am.  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

549. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 

Dear  Madam,  Ashbourne,  Sept.  20,  1777. 

I  do  not  remember  what  has  happened  that  you  write  on 
mourning  paper,  and  use  black  wax. 


ment  to  him  there.  '  He  could  not 
bear  to  have  death  presented  to  him 
in  any  shape  ;  for  his  constitutional 
melancholy  made  the  king  of  terrours 
more  frightful.  He  turned  off  the 
subject,  saying,  "  Sir,  I  hope  to  see 
your  grand-children  !  "  '  Life.  v.  380. 

'  Ante,  ii.  28,  tt.  4. 

"  '  I  have  heard  Dr.  Johnson  pro- 
test that  he  never  had  quite  as  much 
as  he  wished  of  wall-fruit  except  once 
in  his  life,  and  that  was  when  we  were 
all  together  at  Ombersley.'     Piozzi's 


Anecdotes,  p.  103. 

^  Mr.  Langley.     Ante,  i.  347. 

"  '  Thrale  went  greatly  beyond  his 
hundred  thousand  barrels,  and  a 
good  deal  of  their  produce  is  now 
enjoyed  by  a  paltry  singing-master.' 
Baretti.     Ante,  ii.  23. 

^  Tueri.  Ovid.  Ars  Amat.\\.\->,. 
This  misprint  illustrates  what  John- 
son said  of  Mrs.  Thrale: — 'Her 
learning  is  that  of  a  school-boy  in 
one  of  the  lower  forms.'  Life,  i.  494. 

*  Piozzi  Letters,  \.  379. 

B 


Aetat.68.]  To  Mvs.   T/irale.  35 

B liked    S better    as    he    knew    him    more. 

and  seems  well  pleased  to  be  remembered  by  him  and  my 
master'. 

Pretty  dear  Queeney !  I  wish  her  many  and  many  happy 
birth-days.  I  hope  you  will  never  lose  her,  though  I  should  go 
to  Lichfield,  and  though  she  should  sit  the  thirteenth  in  many 
a  company  ^. 

You  have  nothing  to  say  because  you  live  at  Streatham,  and 
expect  me  to  say  much  when  I  return  from  Lichfield  and 
Ashbourne,  places  to  be  considered  as  abounding  in  novelty,  and 
supplying  every  hour  materials  for  history.  It  is  as  much  as 
I  can  do  to  furnish  every  post  with  a  letter ;  I  keep  nothing 
behind  for  oral  communication. 

I  took  Boswell  yesterday  to  see  Keddlestone  \  and  the  silk 
mills  \  and  the  china  work  at  Derby ;  he  was  pleased  with  all. 
The  Derby  china  is  very  pretty,  but  I  think  the  gilding  is  all 
superficial ;  and  the  finer  pieces  are  so  dear,  that  perhaps  silver 
vessels  of  the  same  capacity  may  be  sometimes  bought  at  the 
same  price  ;  and  I  am  not  yet  so  infected  with  the  contagion  of 
china-fancy,  as  to  like  any  thing  at  that  rate  which  can  so  easily 
be  broken  ^ 


•  B is    Boswell,   and    S pp.    193-205.      Johnson's  definition 

Seward,  who  had  lately  visited  Edin-  of  mill  does   not    include    a    silk- 
burgh.     Life,\\\.  123,  6.  mill;  he  defines  it  as  'an  engine  or 

=  Ante,  ii.  29,  n.  4.  fabrick  in  which  corn  is  ground  to 

3  Lord    Scarsdale's    seat.       Here  meal,  or  any  other  body  is  commi- 

Johnson  saw  lying  '  in  his  Lordship's  nuted.' 

dressing-room  his  small  Z'zV/ziwa^^';  ^  <  jhe  same  fashion  a  few  years 

showing    it    to    Boswell   he   said  :—  ago  prevailed  in  Genoa,  which  still 

'Look   'ye.      Quae  regio  in    teri-is  has  place  in  England  and  Holland,  of 

nostri  non  plefta    laboris  ? '      Life,  using  services  of  China-ware  instead 

iii.  161.  of  plate  ;  but  the  senate,  foreseeing 

*  The  silk-mills  were  those  in  the  consequence,  prohibited  the  use 
which  William  Hutton  just  forty  of  that  brittle  commodity  beyond  a 
years  earlier  had  brought  his  servi-  certain  extent  ;  while  the  use  of 
tude  of  '  intolerable  severity '  to  an  silver-plate  was  left  unlimited.  And 
end.  He  describes  them  as  '  a  place  I  suppose  in  their  late  distresses  they 
most  curious  and  pleasing  to  the  eye,  felt  the  good  effect  of  this  ordinance, 
but  which  gave  me  a  seven  years'  Our  tax  on  plate  is  perhaps  in  this 
\x^^x\.-z.c\\&:  Life  of  William  Hiitton,  view  somewhat  impolitic'  Hume's 
p.  24,  and  Hutton's  History  of  Derby,  Essays,  ed.  1770,  ii.  93. 

D  2                                          Master 


36 


To  Mrs.    Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


Master    is   very  inconstant  to   Lady  R \      Did  he  not 

hold   out  against  forty  such  repellents   from  Mrs.  P ?    He 

grows  nice   I  find  ;  let  him  try  whether  nicety  will  make  him 
happy. 

Boswell  has  spent  more  money  than  he  expected,  and  I  must 
supply  him  with  part  of  his  expences  home^.  I  have  not  much 
with  me,  and  beg  Master  to  send  me  by  the  next  post  a  note  of 
ten  pounds,  which  I  will  punctually  return,  not  in  opportunities 
of  beneficence,  though  the  noblest  payment  in  the  world,  but  in 
money,  or  bank-paper.     Do  not  let  him  forget  me. 

Do  not  suppose  that  I  wrote  this  letter  on  purpose  to  borrow. 
My  soul  disdains  it.  I  did  not  think  on  it  when  I  began  to 
write.  When  I  miss  a  post,  I  consider  myself  as  deviating  from 
the  true  rule  of  action.  Seeing  things  in  this  light,  I  consider 
every  letter  as  something  in  the  line  of  duty  ;  upon  this  foot 
I  make  my  arrangement,  and  under  whatever  circumstances  of 
difficulty,  endeavour  to  carry  them  into  execution;  for  having  in 
some  degree  pledged  myself  for  the  performance,  I  think  the 
resolution  both  of  my  head  and  my  heart  engaged,  and  reprobate 
every  thought  of  desisting  from  the  undertaking  ^ 


'  Perhaps   Lady  R- 


■  is  Lady 
Rothes,  the  wife  of  Bennet  Langton. 
The  Thrales  apparently  had  visited 
them  at  their  house  at  Richmond. 
Afite,  ii.  32.  Another  Lady  Rothes 
had  married  Dr.  Lucas  Pepys.  Early 
Diary  of  Fanny  Burney,  ii.  306,  n. 

2.     If  she  were  meant,  Mrs.   P 

might  be  a  former  Mrs.  Pepys. 

^  'When  I  happened  to  mention  that 
the  expence  of  my  jaunt  would  come 
to  much  more  than  I  had  computed, 
he  said,  "  Why,  Sir,  if  the  expence 
were  to  be  an  inconvenience,  you 
would  have  reason  to  regret  it  :  but, 
if  you  have  had  the  money  to  spend, 
1  know  not  that  you  could  have  pur- 
chased as  much  pleasure  with  it  in 
any  other  way."  '     /■fc,  iii.  196. 

^  Boswell  records  that  during  this 
visit  to  Ashbourne,  Johnson  one 
day  '  found  fault  with  nic  for  using 


the  phrase  to  tnake  money.  "  Don't 
you  see  (said  he)  the  impropriety  of 
it  }  To  make  money  is  to  coin  it  : 
you  should  say  get  money."  *  *  * 
He  was  at  all  times  jealous  of  infrac- 
tions upon  the  genuine  English 
language,  and  prompt  to  repress  col- 
loquial barbarisms  ;  such  as,  pledg- 
ing niysef  for  undertaking ;  line,  for 
department,  or  bra?ick,  as,  the  civil 
line,  the  banking  line.'  Life,  iii.  196. 
In  a  note  on  The  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor,  Act  iv.  so.  7,  he  says  : — 
'  To  cone  oJT seems  to  mean  what  is 
in  our  time  expressed  by  to  come 
doivn,  to  pay  liberally  and  readily. 
These  accidental  and  colloquial 
senses  are  the  disgrace  of  language 
and  the  plague  of  commentators.' 
Mrs.  Piozzi,  in  her  Synonymy,  i.  93, 
repeating  no  doubt  what  she  re- 
membered    from      Johnson's     talk, 

Howel 


Aetat.  68.] 


To  Airs.   Thrale. 


Z1 


Howel  tells  of  a  few  words  in  Spanish,  the  true  utterance  of 
which  will  denominate  the  speaker  biieno  Ronianciador ;  the  last 
sentence  will  U7i  buoio  politico  \  He  that  can  rattle  those  words 
well  together  may  say  all  that  political  controversy  generally 
produces. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

P.S.  Nay,  but  do  enquire  after  Bolt-court. 


550. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 


Dear   Madam,  Ashbourne,  Sept.  22,  1777. 

Now  to  sit  down  to  tell  me  a  long  newspaper  story  about 
Lord  Harcourt  and  his  dog  ^. — I  hoped  when  you  had  seen  Levet 
you  would  have  learned  something  that  concerned  me. 


says : — '  A  man  cannot  lie  tinder 
circumstances,  because  they  are  sure 
to  stand  around  him.'  Landor  says 
that  '  Hurd  writes,  ^^  under  the  cir- 
cumstances." Circumstances  are 
about  us,  not  above  us.'  Lander's 
Works,  ed.  1876,  v.  108.  Murray 
(afterwards  Lord  Mansfield),  in  his 
legal  opinion  about  Johnson'slibellous 
definition  of  Excise,  given  in  1755, 
says : — '  6^«rtVr  all  the  circumstances.' 
Life,  i.  295,  n.  9.  Johnson  surely 
forgets  his  fourteenth  definition  of 
under,  as  '  in  a  state  of  being  liable 
to,  or  limited  by,'  where  he  quotes 
'  under  pain  of  greater  displeasure,' 
'  under  a  necessity,'  &c. 

'  Howell,  in  a  letter  written  from 
Madrid  on  August  i,  1623  (Book  ii. 
No.  71),  says: — 'The  conclusion  of 
this  rambling  letter  shall  be  a  rhyme 
of  certain  hard  throaty  words  which 
I  was  taught  lately,  and  they  are 
accounted  the  difficultest  in  all  the 
whole  Castilian  language ;  insomuch 
that  he  who  is  able  to  pronounce 
them  is  accounted  Bucn  Roniancisia, 


a.  good  speaker  of  Spanish  :  Abeja  y 
oueja  y  piedra  que  rabeia,  pendola 
tras  oreja,  y  tugar  en  la  ygreia, 
dessea  a  su  hijo  la  vieja.^  Johnson 
says  that  in  like  manner  the  last 
sentence  of  the  letter  in  the  text,  con- 
taining as  it  does  the  cant  phrases  of 
the  orators  or  political  writers  of  the 
day,  will  denominate  the  speaker  a 
good  politician. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  382. 

^  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  Sept. 
18  about  *an  amazing  piece  of  news 
that  I  have  this  moment  received 
from  town.  The  dinner-bell  had 
rung — where  ?  at  Nuneham.  The 
Earl  [Lord  Harcourt]  did  not  appear. 
After  much  search,  he  was  found 
standing  on  his  head  in  a  well,  a 
dear  little  favourite  dog  upon  his 
legs,  his  stick  and  one  of  his  gloves 
lying  near.'  He  added  in  his  next 
letter  that  '  in  all  probability  he 
perished  by  trying  to  save  his  dog. 
You  know  how  that  must  touch  w^.' 
Letters,  vi.  481,  3. 

I  hope 


l8 


To  Mrs.   Th'ale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


I  hope  Master  has  been  so  kind  as  to  send  me  the  ten 
pounds,  else  I  shall  be  forced  to  borrow  at  Ashbourne  or 
Lichfield. 

Boswell  has  been  this  morning  with  mc  to  see  Ham  Garden '. 
He  talks  of  going  away  this  week,  and  I  shall  not  think  of 
staying  here  much  longer,  though  the  wind  whistles  very  prettily. 
My  nights  are  still  such  as  I  do  not  like ;  but  complaint  will  not 
mend  them. 

If  *  *  »  *  ^  holds  life  to  one-and-twenty,  he  will  probably  live 
on  ;  for  his  constitution,  if  it  does  not  grow  weaker,  will  become 
firmer.  The  harvest  in  Staffordshire  has  been  such  for  plenty, 
and  so  well  gathered,  as  to  be  mentioned  with  admiration  ^ 
Make  your  most  of  these  golden  years,  and  buy  liberally  what 
will  now  be  liberally  allowed.  I  hope  to  partake  a  little  of 
the  general  abundance — But  I  am  now  sixty-eight.  Make  good 
use.  my  dear  Lady,  of  your  days  of  health  and  sprightliness. 
Sixty-eight  is  coming  fast  upon  you ; — let  it  not  find  you 
wondering  what  has  become  of  all  the  past. 

If  Aunt  •*  comes  now,  she  can  do  but  little  harm,  for  she  will 
hardly  go  with  you  to  Brighthelmstone,  and  she  cannot  long 
trouble  you  at  Streatham. 

I  hope  soon  to  come  to  Lichfield,  and  from  Lichfield  to 
London. 

Taylor    and    Bos.    send    their    compliments   with    those    of. 

Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  Ham  or  Islam  in  Dovedale.  It 
had  been  formerly  the  seat  of  the 
Congreves.  Roswell  was  shown  a 
recess  in  which  Congreve  was  said 
to  have  written  his  Old  Bachelor. 
It  was  on  the  road  to  Ham  that 
Johnson  told  Boswell  how  the  Plan 
of  the  Dictionary  came  to  be  in- 
scribed to  Lord  Chesterfield.  The 
Thralcs  and  Johnson  had  seen  the 
place  in  1774.  Life,  i.  183,  ;/.  4; 
iii.  187  ;  V.  429. 

'  Sir  John  Lade.  Ante,  ii.  28,  n.  4. 


^  The  Earl  of  Carlisle  wrote  from 
Castle  Howard  on  September  12  : — 
'We  have  great  quantities  of  fruit, 
and  better  flavoured  than  I  ever 
remember.  The  weather  is  very 
favourable  for  the  harvest,  and  there 
are  great  appearances  of  plenty. 
Our  farmers  will  be  puzzled  for 
cause  of  complaint.'  Sehvyn  and 
his  Contemporaries,  ed.  18S2,  iii. 
228. 

*  She  is  mentioned,  post,  pp.  44. 

47- 

To 


Aetat.  68.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


39 


551. 


To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 


Dear   Madam,  Ashbourne,  Sept.  25,  1777. 

Boswell  is  gone  ;  and  is,  I  hope,  pleased  that  he  has  been 
here ;  though  to  look  on  any  thing  with  pleasure  is  not  very 
common.  He  has  been  gay  and  good-humoured  in  his  usual 
way  ^,  but  we  have  not  agreed  upon  any  other  expedition.  He 
had  spent  more  money  than  he  intended,  and  I  supplied  him  ; 
my  deficiencies  are  again  made  up  by  Mr.  Thrale's  bill,  for  which 
I  thank  him. 

I  will  send  directions  to  the  taylor  to  make  me  some  cloaths 
according  to  Mr.  Thrale's  direction  ^  though  I  cannot  go  with 
you  to  Brighthelmstone,  having  loitered  away  the  time  I  know 
not  how ;  but  if  you  would  have  me,  I  will  endeavour  to  follow 
you,  which  upon  the  whole  may  perhaps  be  as  well.  I  am  here 
now  on  the  25th,  and  am  obliged  by  promise  to  take  Lichfield 
in  my  way,  so  that  the  30th  will  come  upon  me  too  soon. 

The  Levet  that  has  been  found  in  the  register  must  be  some 
other  Levet  ^ ;  I  dare  say  our  friend  does  not  in  his  heart  believe 
that  it  is  he. 

I  am  glad  that  the  Benedictines  found  you  at  last.  Father 
Wilkes,  when  he  was  amongst  us,  took  Oxford  in  his  way. 
I   recommended  him   to   Dr.   Adams,  on  whom  he  impressed 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  384. 

-  '  That  is,  in  his  noisy  and  silly 
way.'  Baretti.  '  From  this  meet- 
ing at  Ashbourne,'  writes  Boswell, 
'  I  derived  a  considerable  accession 
to  my  Johnsonian  store.'  Life,  iii. 
208.  He  stayed  there  but  ten  days ; 
nevertheless  the  account  of  the  visit 
fills  74  pages  of  my  edition  of  the 
Life.  In  the  quietness  of  the  country 
he  found  it  no  doubt  much  easier  '  to 
keep  his  Journal  very  diligently.' 

^  Boswell  says  that  '  by  asso- 
ciating with  Mrs.  Thrale  Johnson's 
external  appearance  was  much  im- 
proved.    He  got  better  clothes  ;  and 


the  dark  colour,  from  which  he 
never  deviated,  was  enlivened  by 
metal  buttons.'     Life,  iii.  325. 

■*  Mrs.  Thrale  had  written  on 
September  18  : — '  My  husband  bids 
me  tell  you  that  he  has  examined 
the  register,  and  that  Levet  is  only 
seventy-two.'  Piozzi  L^etters,  i.  374. 
Johnson,  ^r? J-/,  Letter  of  August  14, 
1780,  speaks  of  him  as  being  four- 
score. In  the  lines  he  wrote  on  his 
death  in  1782,  he  says : — 
'  His  frame  was    firm,  his   powers 

were  bright, 
Though    now    his    eightieth    year 
was  nigh.'  Life,  iv.  138. 

a  high 


40 


To  Airs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


a  high  opinion  of  his  learning.  I  am  glad  that  my  cell  is 
reserved '.  I  may  perhaps  some  time  or  other  visit  it,  though 
I  cannot  easily  tell  why  one  should  go  to  Paris  twice.  Our  own 
beds  are  soft  enough  ^.  Yet  my  master  will  tell  you,  that  one 
wants  to  be  doing  something.  I  have  something  like  a  longing 
to  see  my  master's  performances  ^ ;  a  pleasure  which  I  shall 
hardly  have  till  he  returns  from  Brighthelmstone.  I  beg  that 
before  you  go  you  will  send  the  Bibliographia  Britannica  to  my 

habitation  ■*. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 
P.S.   Let  your  next  be  sent  to  Lichfield. 

552. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  5. 

Dear  Madam,  Ashbourne,  Sept.  27,  1777. 

I  think  I  have  already  told  you  that  Bos.  is  gone.    The  day 

before  he  went,  we  met  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Argyle  in  the 

street,  and  went  to  speak  to  them  while  they  changed  horses  ^ ; 

and  in  the  afternoon  Mrs.  Langton  and  Juliet''  stopped  in  their 


'  See  a?2ie,  i.  401,  406. 

"^  Mrs.  Thrale  had  written  :— '  Mr. 
Cowley  [the  Prior  of  the  Benedict- 
ines] says  that  a  cell  is  kept  ready  for 
your  use.  We  asked  Lord  Mulgrave 
to  meet  him,  and  he  said  a  thing  so 
like  a  thing  of  your  saying,  that  I 
will  repeat  it  directly.  We  talked  of 
England  and  France. — The  beds 
are  softer  there  than  here,  quoth  my 
master.  Softer,  if  you  will,  but  not 
so  clean,  Sir,  replied  the  Prior. — No, 
no,  dirty  enough  to  be  sure,  con- 
fessed Mr.  Thrale,  but  exceeding 
soft.  Why  then,  interrupts  Lord 
Mulgrave,  one  may  infer,  that  a  hog 
in  England  lives  just  like  a  gentle- 
man in  France  I  find — so  there  let 
the  parallel  rest.  Now  was  not  that 
speech  quite  in  the  spirit  of  our  dear 
Mr.  Johnson?'  Piozzi  Letters,  i. 
374.  Just  as  Johnson  did  not  care 
to  see  Paris  twice,  so  neither  did  he 
care  to  visit  a  second  time  Wales  or 


the  Hebrides.  '  Other  people,'  he 
said,  'may go  and  see  the  Hebrides.' 
Life,  iii.  134;  iv.  199. 

^  His  alterations  at  Streatham. 
Ante,  ii.  22. 

■*  It  was,  I  think,  the  Biographia 
Britannica  that  he  wanted  to  see. 
He  told  Boswell  at  Ashbourne  that 
'  he  had  been  asked  to  undertake  the 
new  edition  of  that  work,  but  had 
declined  it.'  Life,  iii.  174.  Bolt 
Court,  it  may  be  noticed,  he  here 
speaks  of  as  his  habitation ;  his 
home  was  at  Streatham.  Ante,  i. 
129,  and  post.  Letter  of  November  7, 
1779. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  386. 

*  They  had  dined  with  them  in  In- 
verary  Castle  in  October,  1773.  Life, 
V.  353.  It  is  strange  that  Boswell  in 
the  Life  cf  fohnson  passes  over  this 
meeting  in  silence ;  the  omission 
must,  I  think,  have  been  intentional. 

'  If    tiicse    ladies    were    Bennet 

way 


Aetat.  68.] 


To  Mrs.    Thralc. 


41 


way  to  London,  and  sent  for  me ;  I  went  to  them,  and  sent  for 
Boswell,  whom  Mrs.  Langton  had  never  seen. 

And  so,  here  is  this  post  without  a  letter.  I  am  old,  I  am  old, 
says  Sir  John  Falstafif' .  '  Take  heed,  my  dear,  youth  flies  apace.' 
You  will  be  wanting  a  letter  sometime.  I  wish  I  were  with  you, 
but  I  cannot  come  yet. 

Nives  et  frigora  Rheni 

Me  sine  sola  vides  :    Ah,  ne  te  frigora  Isedant ! 
Ah,  tibi  ne  teneras  glacies  secet  aspera  plantas  !  ^ 

I  wish  you  well ;  B and  all ;  and  shall  be  glad  to  know 

your  adventures.  Do  not  however  think  wholly  to  escape  me ; 
you  will,  I  hope,  see  me  at  Brighthelmstone.  Dare  you  answer 
me,  as  Brutus  answered  his  evil  genius  -'  ? 

I  know  not  when  I  shall  write  again,  now  you  are  going  to  the 
world's  end.  Extra  anni  solisqiie  vias^,  where  the  post  will  be 
a  long  time  in  reaching  you.  I  shall,  notwithstanding  all  distance, 
continue  to  think  on  you,  and  to  please  myself  with  the  hope  of 
being  once  again, 

Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


Langton's  mother  and  sister  they 
were  not  on  the  direct  road  to  Lon- 
don from  the  family  seat  in  Lincoln- 
shire. A  passage  in  the  next  letter 
seems  however  to  show  that  some 
actress  and  her  daughter  or  com- 
panion were  described. 

^  2  Henry  IV,  Act  ii.  sc.  4. 
-  Virgil.    Eclo^s^ues,  x.  47. 
'  While   you    (alas,    that    I  should 
find  it  so  !) 
To   shun   my   sight  your  native 

soil  forego, 
And  climb  the  frozen  Alps,  and 

tread  the  eternal  snow. 
Ye  frosts  and  snows  her  tender 

body  spare. 
Those  are  not  limbs  for  icicles  to 
tear.' 

Dryden. 
It  is  to  a  visit  to  Brighton   that 


what 


Johnson  applies  these  lines. 
^  '  Brutus.     Speak   to   me 
thou  art. 
Ghost.     Thy  evil  spirit,  Brutus. 
Brutus.     Why  comest  thou.^ 
Ghost.     To  tell  thee  thou  shalt 

see  me  at  Philippi. 
Brutus.    Well :  then  I  shall  see 

thee  again  ? 
Ghost.    Ay,  at  Philippi. 
Brutus.     Why,  I  will  see  thee 
at  Philippi  then.' 
Julius  Ccesar,  Act  iv.  sc.  3. 
''  Virgil.    j-Eneid,  vi.  796. 
'  Beyond  the  solar  year,  without 
the  starry  way.' 

Dryden. 

Virgil  is  a  second  time  brought  in  to 

describe  the  remoteness  of  Brighton. 

See  also  post,  p.  45.      In   1770  the 

post,  which  had  hitherto  gone  four 

To 


42 


To  Mrs.    Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


553. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dear   Madam  Ashbourne,  Michaelmass  day,  1777' 

And  so  because  you  hear  that  Mrs.  Desmoulines  ^  has 
written,  you  hold  it  not  necessary  to  write ;  as  if  she  could  write 
like  you,  or  I  were  equally  content  with  hearing  from  her. — Call 
you  this,  backing  your  friends  ^  ?  She  did  write,  and  I  remember 
nothing  in  her  letter,  but  that  she  was  discontented  that  I  wrote 
only  Madam  to  her,  and  Dear  Madam  to  Mrs.  Williams'*. 
Without  any  great  dearness  in  the  comparison,  Williams  is, 
I  think,  the  dearer  of  the  two.  I  am  glad  that  she  mends,  but 
I  am  afraid  she  cannot  get  the  start  of  the  season,  and  Winter 
will  come  before  she  is  prepared  for  it. 

But  at  Streatham  there  are  dears  and  dears,  who  before  this 
letter  reaches  them  will  be  at  Brighthelmstone.  Wherever  they 
be,  may  they  have  no  uneasiness  but  for  want  of  me. 

Now  you  are  gone,  I  wonder  how  long  you  design  to  stay; 
pray  let  me  know  when  you  write  to  Lichfield,  for  I  have  not 
lost  hope  of  coming  to  you,  yet  that  purpose  may  chance  to  fail. 
But  my  comfort  is,  that  you  cannot  charge  me  with  forgetting 
you  when  I  am  away.  You  perhaps  do  not  think  how  eagerly 
I  expect  the  post. 

Mrs.  »  .  *  »  .  grows  old,  and  has  lost  much  of  her  undulation 
and  mobility.     Her  voice  likewise  is  spoiled  ;  she  can  come  upon 


days  a  week  to  Brighton,  began  to 
go  every  day  but  Sunday,  from  Mid- 
summer to  Michaelmas  in  every 
year.  For  the  other  nine  months  it 
still  went  only  four  days.  Dodslcy's 
Efwirons  of  London,  v.  221,  and 
Court  and  City  Register  for  1775, 
p.  121. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  388. 

"  Boswell  going  up  to  London  in 
the  following  March  writes: — 'I 
found  Dr.  Johnson  at  his  own  house, 
sitting  with  Mrs.  Williams,  and  was 
informed  that  the  room  formerly 
allotted  to  me  was  now  appropriated 
to  a  charitable  purpose  ;  Mrs.  Des- 


moulins,  and  I  think  her  daughter, 
and  a  Miss  Carmichael,  being  all 
lodged  in  it.  Such  was  his  human- 
ity, and  such  his  generosity,  that 
Mrs.  Desmoulins  herself  told  me,  he 
allowed  her  half-a-guinea  a  week. 
Let  it  be  remembered,  that  this  was 
above  a  twelth  part  of  his  pension.' 
Life,  iii.  222.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  his  godfather.     Ante,  i.  6,  n.  3. 

^  '  Call  you  that  backing  of  your 
friends?'     i  Henry  IV,  Act  ii.  sc.  4. 

•*  See  post,  Letter  of  Nov.  7,  1779, 
for  '  Discord  keeping  her  residence 
in  this  habitation,'  and  Life,  iii. 
461. 

the 


Aetat.  68.]  To  Mrs.   Tkrak.  43 

the  stage  now  only  for  her  own  benefit  \  But  Juliet  is  airy  and 
cheerful,  and  has  I  hope  done  lamenting  the  inconstancy  of 
man.  My  mistress  is  represented  as  unable  to  bear  them 
company.  There  was  not  time  for  many  questions,  and  no 
opportunity  of  winding  and  winding  them,  as  Mr.  Richardson  '^ 
has  it,  so  as  to  get  truth  out  without  questions.  I  do  not  indeed 
know  that  I  am  any  great  winder.  I  suspect  a  winder  to  be 
always  a  man  vacant,  and  commonly  little-minded.  I  think  my 
dear  little  mistress  no  great  proficient  at  winding,  though  she 
could  wind  if  she  would,  conteninit  potius  qiiani  nescit. 

Dr.  Taylor  desires  always  to  have  his  compliments  sent.  He 
is,  in  his  usual  way,  very  busy ;  getting  a  bull  to  his  cows, 
and  a  dog  to  his  bitches.  His  waterfall  runs  very  well.  Old 
Shakespeare  is  dead,  and  he  wants  to  buy  another  horse  for  his 
mares  ^.  He  is  one  of  those  who  finds  every  hour  something  nexv 
to  wish  or  to  enjoy  "*. 

Boswell  while  he  was  here  saw  Keddlestone  and  the  silk  mills, 
and  took  Chatsworth  in  his  way  home  ^  He  says,  his  wife  does 
not  love  me  quite  well  yet,  though  we  have  made  a  formal 
peace ^.  He  kept  his  journal  very  diligently;  but  then  what 
was  there  to  journalize.     I  should  be  glad  to  see  what  he  says 

'  A7ite,  ii.  40,  ;/.  7.  s  Yqx   Keddlestone  and   the  silk- 

"  Mrs.  Piozzi,  in  a  marginal  note  mills    see    artte,    ii.  35.     It    was    at 

on  her  own  copy  of  the  Piozzi  Let-  Edensor  Inn,  close  by  Chatsworth, 

ters,  says  : — '  Dr.  Johnson  said,  that  that  the  landlord  told  Boswell  that 

if  Mr.  Richardson  had  lived  till  /  '  the    celebrated    Dr.    Johnson    had 

came   out,   my  praises   would   have  been  in  his  house.     I  inquired  who 

added  two  or  three  years  to  his  life.  this  Dr.  Johnson  was,  that  I  might 

"  For,"     says    Dr.    Johnson,    "  that  hear    mine    host's    notion    of    him. 

fellow    died    merely    for     want    of  "Sir,  (said  he,)  Johnson,  the  great 

change   among    his    flatterers :     he  writer ;    Oddity,    as   they   call   him. 

perished  for   want  of  more,   like   a  He's  the  greatest  writer  in  England  ; 

man    obliged    to    breathe  the   same  he  writes  for  the  ministry;  he  has 

air  till  it  is  exhausted."  '     Hayward's  a  correspondence  abroad,  and    lets 

Piozzi,  i.  311.  them  know  what's  going  on." '    Life, 

^  Ante,  i.  341.  iii.  209. 

''  '  Blest  madman,  who  could  every  ^  It  was  she  who  said  to  her  hus- 

hour  employ  band  : — '  I  have  seen  many  a  bear 

With  something  new  to  wish  or  led  by  a  man,   but   I   never  before 

to  enjoy  ! '  saw  a  man  led  by  a  bear.'      Lb.  ii. 

Dryden.     Absalom  and  Achito-  269,  n.  i. 


pliel,  1.  553. 


of 


44 


To  Mrs.   Tkrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


I   think    I    told    you    that   I  took   him   to 


«■**** 


of  ♦  • 

Ham^ 

Why  should  you  suspect  me  of  forgetting  lilly  lolly  ^  ?  Now 
you  will  see  the  Shellys  "*,  and  perhaps  hear  something  about  the 
Cottons  ^ ;  and  you  will  bathe,  and  walk,  and  dress,  and  dance, 
and  who  knows  how  little  you  will  think  on.  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

554. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 

Dear   Madam,  Ashbourne,  October  6,  1777. 

You  are  glad  that  I  am  absent ;  and  I  am  glad  that  you  are 
sick  ^.  When  you  went  away,  what  did  you  do  with  your  aunt  ? 
I  am  glad  she  liked  my  Susy ;  I  was  always  a  Susy,  when 
nobody  else  was  a  Susy  ^.  How  have  you  managed  at  your  new 
place  ?  Could  you  all  get  lodgings  in  one  house,  and  meat  at 
one  table?  Let  me  hear  the  whole  series  of  misery;  for,  as 
Dr.  Young  says,  /  love  horronr. 

Methinks  you  are  now  a  great  way  off;  and  if  I  come,  I  have 
a  great  way  to  come  to  you  ;  and  then  the  sea  is  so  cold,  and  the 
rooms  are  so  dull :  yet  I  do  love  to  hear  the  sea  roar  and  my 


'  Beauclerk,  I  suspect,  is  the  name 
omitted.  It  suits  the  number  of  the 
asterisks.  Johnson  had  just  heard 
from  Boswell  a  story  to  his  [John- 
son'sl  disadvantage  told  by  Beau- 
clerk.     Life,  iii.  194,  209,  211. 

^  Ham.     Afiie,  ii.  38.  n.  i. 

'  Mrs.  Piozzi  explains  this  in  a 
marginal  note.  A  Welsh  squire  had 
a  half-witted  son — his  sole  heir, 
whom  he  brought  to  a  Christmas 
party  at  Llewenncy  Hall.  '"What 
does  the  child  say  ? "  cries  my  aunt ; 
"  it  sounds  like  lilly  lolly."  "  Indeed, 
my  Lady  Betty,"  replies  the  mother, 
in  a  sharp  Welsh  accent.  "  Dick 
does  JrtK  lilly  lolly,  sure  enough  ;  but 
he  mains: — How  do  you  do.  Sir 
Robert  Cotton."'  Hayward's  Piozzi, 
i.310. 


■*  The  Letters  of  October  31,  1778, 
and  August  25,  1780,  show  that  the 
friend  of  the  Thralcs  was  Sir  John 
Shelley,  of  RTaresfield  Park,  Sussex. 
He  was  not  an  ancestor  of  the  poet 
Shelley. 

^  Johnson  in  his  tour  to  Wales  in 
1774  had  visited  Combermere,  the 
seat  of  Sir  Lynch  Salusbury  Cot- 
ton, Mrs.  Thrale's  cousin.     Life,  v. 

433- 

*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  i. 

'  This  is  explained  by  a  passage  in 
his  first  letter  to  Boswell  after  they 
parted  :  — '  Mrs.  Thrale  is  in  hopes  of 
a  young  brewer.'  Li/e,  \\\.2\o.  On 
July  3  of  the  following  year  he 
wrote  : — '  Mrs.  Thrale,  poor  thing, 
has  a  daughter.'     lb.  p.  363. 

^Antc,  i.  354. 

mistress 


Aetat.  68.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


45 


mistress  talk — For  when  she  talks,  ye  gods !  how  she  will  talk  \ 
I  wish  I  were  with  you,  but  we  are  now  near  half  the  length  of 
England  asunder.  It  is  frightful  to  think  how  much  time  must 
pass  between  writing  this  letter  and  receiving  an  answer,  if  any 
answer  were  necessary  ^ 

Taylor  is  now  going  to  have  a  ram  ;  and  then,  after  Aries  and 
Taurus,  we  shall  have  Gemini.  His  oats  are  now  in  the  wet ; 
here  is  a  deal  of  rain.  Mr.  Langdon  bought,  at  Nottingham  fair, 
fifteen  tun  of  cheese  ;  which,  at  an  ounce  a-piece,  will  suffice 
after  dinner  for  four  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  men  ^  This 
is  all  the  news  that  the  place  affords.  I  purpose  soon  to  be  at 
Lichfield,  but  know  not  just  when,  having  been  defeated  of 
my  first  design.  When  I  come  to  town,  I  am  to  be  very  busy 
about  my  Lives. — Could  not  you  do  some  of  them  for  me  ? 

I  am  glad  Master  unspelled ""  you,  and  run  you  all  on  rocks, 

and  drove  you  about,  and  made  you  stir.     Never  be  cross  about 

it.     Quiet  and  calmness  you  have  enough  of — a  little  hurry  stirs 

life — and. 

Brushing  o'er,  adds  motion  to  the  pool  ^. 

Now  pool  brings  my  master's  excavations  into  my  head. 
I  wonder  how  I  shall  like  them  ;  I  should  like  not  to  see  them, 
till  we  all  see  them  together.  He  will  have  no  waterfall 
to  roar  like  the  Doctor's.  I  sat  by  it  yesterday,  and  read 
Erasmus's  Militis  Christiani  Enchiridion  ^.  Have  you  got  that 
book? 

Make  my  compliments  to  dear  Queeney.     I  suppose  she  will 


'  Ante,  i.  p.  207. 

^  He  was  at  Ashbourne  and  she 
at  Brighton. 

^  Johnson  must  have  reckoned  a 
ton  as  made  up  of  20  cwt.  of  100  lbs. 
each.  For  his  '  delight  in  exercising 
his  mind  on  the  science  of  numbers,' 
see  Life,  \.  72 ;  iii.  207. 

■*  This  word  is  not  in  Johnson's 
Dictionary. 

^  '  Nor  love  is  always  of  a  vicious 
kind, 

But  oft  to  virtuous  acts  inflames 
the  mind  ; 

Awakes  the  sleepy  vigour  of  the  soul, 


And  brushing  o'er  adds  motion 
to  the  pool.' 
Dryden,    quoted      in     Johnson's 

Dictionary  under  To  Brush. 
^  It  was  translated  into  English  in 
1544  under  the  following  title : — •  En- 
chiridion Militis  Christiani ;  which 
may  be  called  in  Englysche,  the 
hansome  weapon  of  a  Chrysten 
Knyght,  replenysched  with  many 
goodly  and  godly  preceptes  ;  made 
by  the  famus  clerke  Erasmus  of 
Rotterdame,  and  newly  corrected 
and  imprinted.' 

dance 


46 


To  Mj's.    Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


dance  at   the  Rooms ',  and  your  heart  will  go  one  knows  not 
how. 

I  am,  dearest,  and  dearest  Lady, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

555. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dear   Madam,  [Ashbourne],  October  13,  1777. 

Yet  I  do  love  to  hear  from  you.  Such  pretty  kind  letters 
as  you  send.  But  it  gives  me  great  delight  to  find  that  my 
master  misses  me.  I  begin  to  wish  myself  with  you  more  than 
I  should  do,  if  I  were  wanted  less.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  stay 
away  till  one's  company  is  desired,  but  not  so  good  to  stay  after 
it  is  desired. 

You  know  I  have  some  work  to  do.     I  did  not  set  to  it  very 
soon ;    and  if  I   should  go   up  to  London  with   nothing  done, 

what  would   be  said,  but  that  I  was who   can  tell   what? 

I  therefore  stay  till   I   can  bring  up  something   to  stop  their 
mouths,  and  then ■'. 


'  Miss  Burney,  going  to  the  Rooms 
at    Brighton    in    October    1782,    de- 
scribes the  staring  and  whispering  as 
she  passed  :^ — 'That's  she!     That's 
the  famous  Miss  Burney!'      Mme. 
D'Arblay's   Diary,    ii.     160.       Once 
when  Queeney  'was  consulting  with 
a    friend    about   a    new    gown    and 
dressed  hat  she  thought  of  wearing 
to  \sic\  an  assembly,  suddenly  Mr. 
Johnson  called  out :  — 
"  Wear  the    gown    and    wear    the 
hat, 
Snatch      thy     pleasures     while 
they  last  ; 
Hadst    thou    nine    lives    like    a 
cat, 
Soon    those    nine    lives    would 
be  past." ' 

Piozzi's  Anecdotes,  p.  165. 
*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  6. 
^  Bosvvell    says    that    when    they 


were  at  Ashbourne  he  talked  to 
Johnson  about  the  projected  edition 
of  the  English  Poets.  He  adds  :— 
'  My  friend  seemed  now  not  much  to 
relish  talking  of  this  edition.'  Life, 
iii.  137.  In  Murray's  Joiinsotiiana, 
p.  227,  it  is  recorded  on  the  authority 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parker,  who  had  it 
from  Mrs.  Aston  and  her  sister,  that 
'  a  great  portion  of  the  Lives  of  the 
Poets  was  written  at  Stow  Hill 
[Lichfield  |.  Johnson  had  a  table  by 
one  of  the  windows,  which  was 
frequently  surrounded  by  five  or  si.\ 
ladies  engaged  in  work  or  conver- 
sation. Mrs.  Gastrel  had  a  very 
valuable  edition  of  Bailey's  Diction- 
ary to  which  she  [a  misprint,  no 
doubt,  for  lie"]  often  referred.  She 
told  him  that  Miss  Seward  said  that 
he  had  made  poetry  of  no  value  by 
his  criticism.    "  Why,  my  dear  lady," 

Though 


Aetat.  68]  To  Mvs.   Tki'ale.  47 


Though  I  am  still  at  Ashbourne,  I  receive  your  dear  letters 
that  come  to  Lichfield,  and  [do]  you  continue  that  direction,  for 
I  think  to  get  thither  as  soon  as  I  can. 

One  of  the  does  died  yesterday,  and  I  am  afraid  her  fawn  will 
be  starved  ;  I  wish  Miss  Thrale  had  it  to  nurse ;  but  the  Doctor 
is  now  all  for  cattle,  and  minds  very  little  either  does  or  hens. 

How  did  you  and  your  aunt  part '  ?  Did  you  turn  her  out  of 
doors  to  begin  your  journey  ?  or  did  she  leave  you  by  her  usual 
shortness  of  visits  ?     I  love  to  know  how  you  go  on. 

I  cannot  but  think  on  your  kindness  and  my  master's.  Life 
has,  upon  the  whole,  fallen  short,  very  short,  of  my  early  ex- 
pectation :  but  the  acquisition  of  such  a  friendship,  at  an  age 
when  new  friendships  are  seldom  acquired,  is  something  better 
than  the  general  course  of  things  gives  man  a  right  to  expect. 
I   think    on    it    with  great  delight,   I   am   not  very  apt  to  be 

delighted. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

556. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dearest  Lady,  Ashbourne,  Oct.  1 6,  1777. 

I  am  just  going  out,  and  can  write  but  little.  How  you 
should  be  long  without  a  letter  I  know  not,  for  I  seldom  miss 
a  post.  I  purpose  now  to  come  to  London  as  soon  as  I  can,  for 
I  have  a  deal  to  look  after,  but  hope  I  shall  get  through  the 
whole  business. 

I  wish  you  had  told  me  your  adventure,  or  told  me  nothing. 
Be  civil  to  Lord  »  -  *  *,  he  seems  to  be  a  good  kind  of  man^ 
Miss  may  change  her  mind  ;  and  will  change  it,  when  she  finds 
herself  get  more  credit  by  dancing  than  by  whist ""  ;  and  though 
she  should  continue  to  like,  as  she  likes  now,  the  harm  is  none. 

replied  he  ;  "  if  silver  is  dirty,  it  is  '  Mrs.    Thrale    in    her    letter    of 

not    the   less   valuable   for    a    good  October    i,    had    mentioned    'Lord 

scouring." '     It  is  a  great  exaggera-  *  *  *  ,  who  talks  a  great  deal,  and 

tion  to  say  that  he  wrote  '  a  great  from   a   very   fashionably   furnished 

portion  of  the  Lives'  at  Stow  Hill.  mind.'     Pioszi  Letters,  \.  392. 

'  See  ante,  ii.  38.  ''  '  Miss   Thrale    never    could    be 

^  Piozzi  Letter's,  ii.  8.  brought  to  love  dancing.'     Baretti. 

Do 


48 


To  Mrs.   Thi^ale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


Do  not  yet  begin,  dear  Madam,  to  think  about  tJie  last\  You 
may  well  dance  these  dozen  years,  if  you  keep  your  looks  as  you 
have  yet  kept  them ;  and  I  am  glad  that  Hetty  ^  has  no  design 
to  dance  you  down. 

The   poor  P ^    I  am  sorry  for  the  girl  ;  she   seems  to  be 

doomed,  before  her  time,  to  weakness  and  solicitude.  What  is 
that  Bedrider ''  the  supervisor  ?  He  will  be  up  again.  But  life 
seems  to  be  closing  upon  them. 

I  hope  you  still  continue  to  be  sick  ^,  and  my  dear  master  to 
be  well. 

I  am  no  sender  of  compliments,  but  take  them  once  for  all, 
and  deliver  them  to  be  kept  as  rarities  by  Miss  Owen,  Mrs. 
Nesbit^  Miss  Hetty,  and  Dr.  Burney. 

Still  direct  to  Lichfield,  for  thither  I  am  hastening ;  and  from 
Lichfield  to  London,  and  from  London  I  hope  to  Brighthelm- 
stone,  and  from  Brighthelmstone  g7ia  terra patet\ 
I  am,  dearest  of  all  dear  Ladies, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

557. 

To  Mrs.  ThraleI 

Dear   Madam,  Lichfield,  October  22,  1777. 

I  am  come,  at  last,  to  Lichfield,  and  am  really  glad  that 
I  am  got  away  from  a  place  where  there  was  indeed  no  evil, 
but  very  little  good  ^.     You  may,  I  believe,  write  once  to  Lich- 


'  Johnson  refers,  I  think,  to  the 
passage  in  his  last  Idlfr,  where  he 
says,  '  there  are  few  things,  not 
purely  evil,  of  which  we  can  say  with- 
out some  emotion  of  uneasiness,  this 
is  the  last  J 

^  Miss  Thrale,  whose  name  was 
Esther. 

^  A  Mrs.  P has  been  men- 
tioned, ante,  ii.  36.  Mrs.  Thrale 
some  years  later  [Piozzi  Letters,  ii. 

3S9J  speaks  of  poor  P 's  ill  state 

of  health,  where  P ,  I  suspect,  is 

Perkins,  Thrale's  clerk  and  successor. 


"*  Bedrider  is  not  in  Johnson's 
Dictiottary.  According  to  Skeat 
{Etymo.  Diet.),  '  bedridden  is  cor- 
rupted from  Anglo-Saxon  bedrida, 
lit.  "  a  bed-rider  ;  "  one  who  can  only 
ride  on  a  bed,  not  on  a  horse.' 

^  Ante,  ii.  44,  n.  7. 

*  For  Miss  Owen  see  atite,  ii.  5, 
n.  I,  and  for  Mrs.  Nesbit,  ante,  i.  221, 
n.  3. 

'  Ovid.  Metainorphoses,  i.  241. 
Quoted  ante,  i.  226. 

'^  Piozzi Letters,  ii.  10. 

'•*  He   wrote   to  Boswell   on    Nov. 

field 


Aetat.  68.]  To  Mvs .   Tkrale.  49 

field  after  you  receive  this,  but  after  that  it  will  be  best  to  direct 
to  London. 

Your  throat  is,  I  suppose,  well  by  this  time.  Poor  Mrs.  ♦  »  ♦  « 
it  is  impossible  to  think  on  without  great  compassion. — Against 
a  blow  so  sudden,  and  so  unexpected,  I  wonder  that  she  supports 
herself.  The  consolations  of »  »  *  *  *  's  girls  must  indeed  be  painful. 
She  had  intended  to  enjoy  the  triumph  of  her  daughter's  superi- 
ority \  They  were  prepared  to  wish  them  both  ill,  and  their  wishes 
are  gratified.  There  is  in  this  event  a  kind  of  system  of  calamity, 
or  conflagration  of  the  soul.  Every  avenue  of  pain  is  invaded  at 
once. — Pride  is  mortified,  tenderness  is  wounded,  hope  is  disap- 
pointed.— Whither  will  the  poor  Lady  run  from  herself? 

My  visit  to  Stowhill  has  been  paid.  I  have  seen  there  a  col- 
lection of  misery.  Mrs.  Aston  paralytick,  Mrs.  Walmsley  lame, 
Mrs.  Hervey  blind,  and  I  think  another  lady  deaf.  Even  such  is 
life^ 

I  hope  dear  Mrs.  Aston  is  a  little  better ;  it  is  however  very 
little.  She  was,  I  believe,  glad  to  see  me  ;  and  to  have  any  body 
glad  to  see  me  is  a  great  pleasure  ^ 

I  will  tell,  while  I  think  on  it,  that  I  really  saw  with  my  own 
eyes  Mr.  Chaplin  of  Lincolnshire's  letter'*  for  Taylor's  cow, 
accompanied  with  a  draught  on  Hoare  for  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  pounds  to  pay  for  her.  Frank  says,  the  young  bull  is 
not  quite  so  big  as  the  old  one ;  Taylor,  I  think,  says  he  is  bigger. 

I  have  seen  but  one  new  place  this  journey,  and  that  is  Leek 
in  the  Morlands^ — An  old  church,  but  a  poor  town. 

25  : — '  I    staid    long  at   Ashbourne,  Such  is  life.     Let  us  try  to  pass  it 

not  much  pleased,   yet  awkward  at  well,    whatever   it    be,   for    there   is 

departing.'     Life,\\\.i\\.  surely  something  beyond  it.'    Ib.\\\. 

'  She   is   referred   to   again,  post,  211. 

p.  54.  ^  See  ante,  i.  316,  where  he  says: 

^  Mrs.  Walmsley  was  the  sister  of  — *  I  am  always  proud  and  pleased 

Mrs.  Aston,  and  the  widow  of  John-  to  have  my  company  desired.' 

son's    friend     and    patron,    Gilbert  ""  Mr.  Chaplin  was,  I  suppose,  an 

Walmsley.  Mrs.  Hervey  was  another  ancestor  of  the  present  President  of 

sister,  the  widow  of  the  Hon.  Henry  the  Board  of  Agriculture.     See  ante, 

Hervey.     Life,  i.  83,  n.  4.     Johnson  i.  166,  for  'the  man  who  offered  an 

wrote  to  Boswell  :— '  I  went  to  Lich-  hundred  guineas  for  the  young  bull' 

field,    where    I  found   my   friend   at  ^  It    was  at  Leek  that  Johnson's 

Stow  Hill  very  dangerously  diseased,  father    served     his     apprenticeship. 

VOL.  H.                                     E  '                  The 


50 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


The  days  grow  short,  and  we  have  frosts  ;  but  I  am  in  all 
v/eathers,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

558. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  October  25,  1777. 

Cholmondely's  story  shocks  me,  if  it  be  true,  which  I  can 
hardly  think,  for  I  am  utterly  unconscious  of  it ;  I  am  very  sorry, 
and  very  much  ashamed  ^. 

I  am  here  for  about  a  week  longer,  and  then  I  purpose  to 
hasten  to  London.  How  long  do  you  stay  at  Brighthelmstone  ? 
Now  the  company  is  gone,  why  should  you  be  the  lag  ^  ?  The 
season  of  brewing  will  soon  be  here,  if  it  is  not  already  come. 
We  have  here  cold  weather,  and  loud  winds. 

Miss  Porter  is  better  than  is  usual,  and  Mrs.  Aston  is,  I  hope, 
not  worse,  but  she  is  very  bad  ;  and  being,  I  fancy,  about  sixty- 
eight,  is  it  likely  that  she  will  ever  be  better  ■*  ? 

It  is  really  now  a  long  time  that  we  have  been  writing  and 
writing,  and  yet  how  small  a  part  of  our  minds  have  we  written  ^  ? 
We  shall  meet,  I  hope,  soon,  and  talk  it  out. 


Life,  i.  37.  Here  the  shght  shock  of 
an  earthquake  had  been  felt  the  night 
that  Boswell  rested  there  on  his  way 
to  Ashbourne.  lb.  iii.  136.  In  an 
edition  of  Harwood's  History  of 
Lichfield  in  the  Bodleian  Library 
has  been  inserted  at  p.  487  the  origi- 
nal of  the  following  document : — 

'Leek,  3  Decmb.  1745. 
To  the  Headborrow  of  Endon. 

You  are  required  imediatly  \sic\ 
to  bring  to  Leek  Twenty  Able  Horses 
with  proper  Carts  under  pain  of 
Military  Execution  for  the  Service 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

'James  Urquhart.' 

Johnson  in  his  Dictiona?-y,  defin- 
ing moreland  as  '  a  mountainous  or 
hilly  country,'  adds  : — '  A  tract  of 
Staffordshire  is  called  the  Morlands.' 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  12. 


^  '  Mr.  Cholmondely's  running  a- 
way  from  his  debtors.'  Baretti. 
In  this  Baretti  is  wrong ;  for  why 
should  Johnson  be  ashamed  of  it  ? 
For  his  act  of  rudeness  and  for  his 
apology,  see  Life,  iv.  345. 

^  'Him  while  he  past  the  monster 
blind  bespoke  : 
What  makes  my  ram  the  lag  of 
all  the  flock  ? ' 

Pope's  Homer's  Odyssey,  ix.  525. 

■*  He  was  thinking  of  himself,  for 
sixty-eight  was  his  own  age. 

^  When  Goldsmith  at  the  Literary 
Club  said  to  Johnson,  '  "  There  can 
now  be  nothing  new  among  us  : 
we  have  travelled  over  one  another's 
minds,"  Johnson  seemed  a  little 
angry,  and  said: — "Sir,  you  have 
not  travelled  over  iny  mind,  I 
promise  you."'     Life,  iv.  183. 

You 


Aetat.  68.]  To  Mts.    Tkf^ale.  5 1 


You  are  not  yet  sixty-eight,  but  it  will  come,  and  perhaps  you 
may  then  sometimes  remember  me. 

In  the  mean  time,  do  not  think  to  be  young  beyond  the  time ; 
do  not  play  Agnes ' ;  and  do  not  grow  old  before  your  time,  nor 
suffer  yourself  to  be  too  soon  driven  from  the  stage  ^  You  can 
yet  give  pleasure  by  your  appearance  ;  show  yourself  therefore, 
and  be  pleased  by  pleasing.  It  is  not  now  too  soon  to  be  wise ; 
nor  is  it  yet  too  late  to  be  gay. 

Streatham  is  now,  I  suppose,  the  eighth  wonder  of  the  world  ^ ; 
I  long  to  see  it,  but  do  not  intend  to  go  till,  as  I  once  said  before, 
my  master,  and  you,  and  I,  and  nobody  else  shall  be  with  us — 
perambulate  it  together. 

Cicely,  I  warrant  you,  will  do  well  enough  ^  I  am  glad  you 
are  so  sick,  and  nobody  to  pity.  Now  for  another  pretty  little 
girl. — But  we  know  not  what  is  best. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

P.S. — Pay  my  respects  to  Miss  Owen. 

559. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^. 

Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  October  27,  1777. 

You  talk  of  writing  and  writing,  as  if  you  had  all  the  writing 

to  yourself.     If  our  correspondence  were   printed,  I    am    sure 

posterity,  for  posterity  is  always  the  authour's  favourite  ^,  would 

'  He  refers,  I  conjecture,  to  Agnes  ^  He  is  referring  to  Mr.  Thrale's 

in  n^cole  des  Feinmes  by  Moliere,  improvements.     Ante,  ii.  45. 

^  Pope  gives  different  advice  : —  *  Cecilia     Thrale     married     John 

'  Walk  sober  off  ;  before  a  spright-  Meredith  Mostyn,  and  died  on  May 

lier  age  i,  1857,  aged  80,  as  is  shown  by  her 

Comes  titt'ring   on,    and    shoves  tomb-stone  at  Streatham. 

you  from  the  stage.'  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  14. 

Imit.  of  Horace,  2  Epis.  ii.  324.  ^  Goldsmith,  in  the  Preface  to  his 

Johnson    too    in    his     Vanity    of  Essays,  %?iy?,\ — '  As  my  drafts  are  in 

Human  Wishes,  1.  307,  tells  how  some  danger  of  being  protested  at 

*  New  forms   arise,   and    diff'rent  home,  it  may  not  be  imprudent  upon 

views  engage,  this  occasion  to  draw  my  bills  upon 

Superfluous  lags   the    vet'ran   on  Posterity.     Mr.  Posterity.    Sir,  nine 

the  stage.'  hundred  and  ninety-nine  years  after 

E  2  say 


52 


To  Mrs.   TJirale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


say  that  I  am  a  good  writer  too. — AncJiio  sono  pittore^.  To  sit 
down  so  often  with  nothing  to  say :  to  say  something  so  often, 
almost  without  consciousness  of  saying,  and  without  any  remem- 
brance of  having  said,  is  a  power  of  which  I  will  not  violate 
my  modesty  by  boasting,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  every  body 
has  it. 

Some,  when  they  write  to  their  friends,  are  all  affection ;  some 
are  wise  and  sententious ;  some  strain  their  powers  for  efforts  of 
gaiety:  some  write  news,  and  some  write  secrets  ;  but  to  make  a 
letter  without  affection,  without  wisdom,  without  gaiety,  without 
news,  and  without  a  secret,  is,  doubtless,  the  great  epistoHck 
art^ 

In  a  man's  letters,  you  know,  Madam,  his  soul  lies  naked,  his 
letters  are  only  the  mirrour  of  his  breast ;  whatever  passes 
within  him  is  shown  undisguised  in  its  natural  process ;  nothing 
is  inverted,  nothing  distorted  ;  you  see  systems  in  their  elements; 
you  discover  actions  in  their  motives. 

Of  this  great  truth,  sounded  by  the  knowing  to  the  ignorant, 
and  so  echoed  by  the  ignorant  to  the  knowing,  what  evidence 
have  you  now  before  you  !  Is  not  my  soul  laid  open  in  these 
veracious  pages  ^  ?     Do  not  you  see   me  reduced    to  my  first 


sight  hereof,  pay  the  bearer,  or  order, 
a  thousand  pounds'  worth  of  praise, 
free  from  all  deductions  whatsoever, 
it  being  a  commodity  that  will  then 
be  very  serviceable  to  him,  and  place 
it  to  the  accompt  of,  &c.'  Gold- 
smith's Works,  ed.  1801,  iv.  301. 
Porson  ends  his  Preface  to  his 
Letters  to  Mr.  Archdeacon  Travis  by 


saymg 


Mr.    Travis   and    I    may 


address  our  letters  to  posterity ;  but 
they  will  never  be  delivered  accord- 
ing to  the  direction! 

'  '  It  was  this  that  made  Correggio 
cry  out  on  seeing  Raphael's  works, 
"  I  also  am  a  painter : "  he  felt  a 
kindred  spirit  in  his  own  breast.' 
Conversations  of  Northcote,  p.  168. 

^  EpistoHck  is  not  in  Johnson's 
Dictiotiary. 

^  The  motto  of  Howell's   Letters 


is  : — '  Ut  clavis  portam,  sic  pandit 
epistola  pectus.'  Johnson  in  the 
Li/e  of  Pope  says  : — '  It  has  been  so 
long  said  as  to  be  commonly  be- 
lieved, that  the  true  characters  of 
men  may  be  found  in  their  letters, 
and  that  he  who  writes  to  his  friend 
lays  his  heart  open  before  him.  But 
the  truth  is  that  such  were  the 
simple  friendships  of  the  Golden 
Age,  and  are  now  the  friendships 
only  of  children.  .  .  .  There  is  in- 
deed no  transaction  which  offers 
stronger  temptations  to  fallacy  and 
sophistication  than  epistolary  inter- 
course.'     Worksi  viii.  314. 

Bosweil  instances  veracious  as  one 
of  '  the  three  uncommon  or  learned 
words'  which  Johnson  used  in  the 
Lives  of  the  Poets.     Life,  iv.  39. 

principles? 


Aetat.  68.]  To  Mts.   T/iralc.  53 

principles  ?  This  is  the  pleasure  of  corresponding  with  a  friend, 
where  doubt  and  distrust  have  no  place,  and  every  thing  is  said 
as  it  is  thought.  The  original  idea  is  laid  down  in  its  simple 
purity,  and  all  the  supervenient  conceptions  are  spread  over  it 
stratum  simper  stratum,  as  they  happen  to  be  formed.  These  are 
the  letters  by  which  souls  are  united,  and  by  which  minds 
naturally  in  unison  move  each  other  as  they  are  moved  them- 
selves. I  know,  dearest  Lady,  that  in  the  perusal  of  this,  such  is 
the  consanguinity  of  our  intellects,  you  will  be  touched  as  I  am 
touched.  I  have  indeed  concealed  nothing  from  you,  nor  do  I 
expect  ever  to  repent  of  having  thus  opened  my  heart. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

560. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 
Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  October  29,  1777. 

Though  after  my  last  letter  I  might  justly  claim  an  interval 
of  rest,  yet  I  write  again  to  tell  you,  that  for  this  turn  you  will 
hear  but  once  more  from  Lichfield.  This  day  is  Wednesday, 
on  Saturday  I  shall  write  again,  and  on  Monday  I  shall  set  out 
to  seek  adventures  ;  for  you  know, 

None  but  the  brave  deserve  the  fair  ^ 

On  Monday  we  hope  to  see  Birmingham,  the  seat  of  the 
mechanick  arts  ^ ;  and  know  not  whether  our  next  stage  will  be 
Oxford,  the  mansion  of  the  liberal  arts ;  or  London,  the  resi- 
dence of  all  the  arts  together.  The  chymists  call  the  world 
Academia  Paracelsi ;  my  ambition  is  to  be  his  fellow-student — 
to  see  the  works  of  nature,  and  hear  the  lectures  of  truth.  To 
London  therefore — London  may  perhaps  fill  me  ;  and  I  hope  to 
fill  my  part  of  London. 

In  the  mean  time,  let  me  continue  to  keep  the  part  which  I 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  14.  city  of  philosophers  ;  we  work  with 

^  '  None  but   the   brave    deserves  our  heads,  and  make  the  boobies  of 

the  fair.'  Birmingham  work  for  us  with  their 

Dryden.    Alexander's  Feast.  hands.'    Zz/^,  ii.  464. 
^  '  Sir,'   said   Johnson,  '  we  are  a 

have 


54 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


have  had  so  long  in  your  kindness,  and  my  master's ;  for  if  that 
should  grow  less,  I  know  not  where  to  find  that  which  may 
supply  the  diminution.  But  I  hope  what  I  have  been  so  happy 
as  to  gain  I  shall  have  the  happiness  of  keeping. 

I  always  omitted  to  tell  you  that  Lucy's  maid  took  the  worm- 
powder  with  strict  regularity,  but  with  no  great  effect '.  Lucy 
has  had  several  letters  from  you,  but  cannot  prevail  on  herself  to 
write  ;  but  she  is  very  grateful. 

Mrs.  Walmsley  has  been  at  Stowhill,  and  has  invited  me, 
when  I  come  to  Bath,  to  be  at  her  house.  Poor  Mrs.  Aston 
either  mends  not  at  all,  or  not  perceptibly;  but  she  does  not 
seem  to  grow  worse. 

I  suppose  *  *  ♦  »  »  »  ♦  *  is  by  this  time  recovered,  and  perhaps 
grown  wiser,  than  to  shake  his  constitution  so  violently  a  second 
time  ^ 

Poor  Mrs.  »  ♦  «  *  *  ^  i  q^^  cannot  think  on  her  but  with  great 
compassion.  But  it  is  impossible  for  her  husband's  daughters 
not  to  triumph  ;  and  the  husband  will  feel,  as  Rochefoucault 
says,  something  that  does  not  displease  him  "*.  You  and  I,  who 
are  neutral,  whom  her  happiness  could  not  have  depressed,  may 
be  honestly  sorry. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  Ante,  ii.  i8. 

^  Johnson,  I  think,  is  writing  of 
Topham  Beauclerk,  whom  he  had 
seen  at  Brighthelmston  this  autumn. 
Life,  iii.  210.  Horace  Walpole 
wrote  on  July  6,  1779:  —  'Lord 
Bolingbrokc,  I  hear,  will  live.  At 
first  they  thought  he  had  taken 
laudanum.  It  would  have  been  a 
monstrous  injustice  in  opium  to  kill 
him,  when  it  will  not  despatch  Beau- 
clerk.'  Letters,  vii.  221.  The  injustice 
would  have  consisted  in  the  fact  that 
his  divorced  wife  was  married  to 
Beauclerk  with  whom  she  had  first 
lived  in  adultery.  For  Beauclerk's 
ill-health,  see  Life,  iii.  104. 


^  Ante,  ii.  49. 

*  '  Dans  I'adversite  de  nos  meil- 
leurs  amis   nous   trouvons  toujours 
quelque  chose  qui  ne  nous  deplait 
pas.' 

La  Rochefoucauld.    Reflexions 
Morales,  xcix. 
'As     Rochefoucault     his     maxims 
drew 

From  nature,  I  believe  them  true; 

They  argue  no  corrupted  mind 

In  him;  the  fault  is  in  mankind. 

This  maxim  more  than  all  the  rest 

Is    thought   too   base  for  human 
breast ; 

"  In  all  distresses  of  our  friends 

We  first  consult  our  private  ends  ; 

To 


Aetat.  68.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


55 


561. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 

Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  November  3,  1777. 

This  is  the  last  time  that  I  shall  write,  in  this  excursion, 
from  this  place.  To-morrow  I  shall  be,  I  hope,  at  Birmingham; 
from  which  place  I  shall  do  my  best  to  find  the  nearest  way 
home.  I  come  home,  I  think,  worse  than  I  went ;  and  do  not 
like  the  state  of  my  health.     But,  vive  hodie  ^,  make  the  most  of 

life.     I  hope  to  get  better,  and sweep  the  cobwebs.     But  I 

have  sad  nights.     Mrs.  Aston  has  sent  me  to  Mr.  Green  ^  to  be 
cured. 

Did  you  see  Foote  at  Brighthelmstone  ? — Did  you  think  he 
would  so  soon  be  gone? — Life,  says  Falstaff,  is  a  shuttle  *,  He 
was  a  fine  fellow  in  his  way ;  and  the  world  is  really  impover- 
ished by  his  sinking  glories  ^  Murphy  ought  to  write  his  life,  at 
least  to  give  the  world  a  Footeana  ^.  Now,  will  any  of  his  con- 
temporaries bewail  him  ?  Will  Genius  change  his  sex  to  weep  ^  ? 
I  would  really  have  his  life  written  with  diligence  ^. 


While  Nature  kindly  bent  to  ease 

us 
Points  out   some  circumstance  to 

please  us." ' 
Swift.      On    the  Death    of  Dr. 
Swift.     Works,  ed.  1803,  xi.  240. 
'  Piozzi  Letters,  i.  398. 
This   letter   is   inserted   by    Mrs. 
Piozzi  under  the  date  of  October  3. 
Johnson  in  his  last  letter  written  on 
Wednesday,  October  29,  says  : — '  On 
Monday  we  hope  to  see  Birmingham.' 
Monday   was    November    3.      This 
letter  was  therefore   written  in   the 
beginning  of    November.      I    have 
altered  the  month  but  kept  the  day 
of  the  month.     Probably  he  delayed 
his  journey  one  day. 
^  '  Non  est,  crede  mihi,  sapientis 
dicere,  Vivam. 
Sera    nimis    vita    est    crastina : 
vive  hodie.' 

Martial,  i.  16.  11. 
^  The   Lichfield  apothecary,   and 


proprietor  of  the  Museum.  Ante,  i. 
161,  71.  5. 

■*  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  Act 
v.  sc.  I. 

^  Johnson  in  his  Lives  of  the  Poets 
applied  the  same  thought  to  Gar- 
rick's  death,  '  which  has,'  he  said, 
'  eclipsed  the  gaiety  of  nations,  and 
impoverished  the  public  stock  of 
harmless  pleasure.'     Life,  i.  82. 

*  '  One  half  of  it  had  been  a 
string  of  obscenities.'     Baretti. 

'  See  Life,  iii.  374,  where  he  said 
to  a  bard  who  made  him  read  his 
Ode  to  the  Warlike  Genius  of  Bri- 
tain: — 'Here  is  an  error.  Sir;  you 
have  made  Genius  feminine.' 

^  Foote  had  died  at  Dover  on  his 
way  to  France  on  October  20,  broken 
in  spirit  by  a  charge  which  had  been 
brought  against  him,  as  false  as  it 
was  infamous.  Though  it  had  been 
at  once  demolished  when  it  was  tried 
in  the  Court   of  King's  Bench,  with 

It 


56 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1777. 


It  will  be  proper  for  me  to  work  pretty  diligently  now  for 
some  time.  I  hope  to  get  through,  though  so  many  weeks  have 
passed.     Little  lives  and  little  criticisms  may  serve. 

Having  been  in  the  country  so  long,  with  very  little  to  detain 

me,  I  am  rather  glad  to  look  homewards. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam: Johnson. 


562. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dear  Madam,  [Bolt  Court],  November  lo,  1777. 

And  so,  supposing  that  I  might  come  to  town  and  neglect 
to  give  you  notice,  or  thinking  some  other  strange  thought,  but 
certainly  thinking  wrong,  you  fall  to  writing  about  me  to  Tom 
Davies "",  as  if  he  could  tell  you  any  thing  that  I  would  not  have 
you  know.  As  soon  as  I  came  hither,  I  let  you  know  of  my 
arrival ;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  I  am  summoned  to 
Brighthelmstone  through  storms,  and  cold,  and  dirt,  and  all  the 
hardships  of  wintry  journies.  You  know  my  natural  dread  of  all 
those  evils  ;  yet  to  shew  my  master  an  example  of  compliance, 
and  to  let  you  know  how  much  I  long  to  see  you,  and  to  boast 
how  little  I  give  way  to  disease,  my  purpose  is  to  be  with  you 
on  Friday, 

I  am  sorry  for  poor  Nezzy,  and  hope  she  will  in  time  be 
better ;  I  hope  the  same  for  myself.  The  rejuvenescency  ^  of  Mr. 
Scrase  gives  us  both  reason  to  hope,  and  therefore  both  of  us 
rejoice  in  his  recovery.  I  wish  him  well  besides,  as  a  friend  to 
my  master. 


Lord  Mansfield  as  judge,  Mrs. 
Piozzi  persisted  in  believing  in  it. 
*  Dr.  Johnson,'  she  adds,  '  never 
could  persuade  himself  that  things 
were  as  bad  as  the  sufferer  or  his 
friends  represented  them ;  he  thought 
it  wrong  to  believe  so,  and  steadily 
made  the  best  <?«V,'  Hay  ward's 
Piozzi,  i.  311.  For  an  interesting 
account  of  P'oote  see  John  I'orster's 
Biographical  Essays,  ii.  293 
'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  4. 


This  letter  like  the  last  is  mis- 
dated. It  was  written  not  on 
October  10,  but  on  November  10— 
Lord  Mayor's  Day,  as  the  context 
shows.  November  9  that  year  fell 
on  a  Sunday,  so  that  the  Show  had 
been  put  off  till  the  morrow. 

"^  The  bookseller  of  Russell  Street, 
Covent  Garden.     Life,  i.  390. 

^  This  word  is  not  in  Johnson's 
Dictionary.  For  Mr.  Scrase  see 
ante,  i.  395,  n.  2. 

I  am 


Aetat.  68.] 


To  Mrs.  Tkrale. 


57 


I  am  just  come  home  from  not  seeing  my  Lord  Mayor's  shew, 
but  I  might  have  seen  at  least  part  of  it  \  But  I  saw  Miss 
Wesley  and  her  brothers  ;  she  sends  her  compliments "".  Mrs. 
Williams  is  come  home,  I  think  a  very  little  better. 

Every  body  was  an  enemy  to  that  wig^. — We  will  burn  it,  and 
get  drunk;  for  what  is  joy  without  drink.  Wagers  are  laid  in 
the  city  about  our  success,  which  is  yet,  as  the  French  call  it, 
problematical.  Well,  but  seriously  I  think  I  shall  be  glad  to 
see  you  in  your  own  hair ;  but  do  not  take  too  much  time 
in  combing,  and  twisting,  and  papering,  and  unpapering,  and 
curling,  and  frizzing  ^,  and  powdering,  and  getting  out  the  powder, 
with  all  the  other  operations  required  in  the  cultivation  of  a 
head  of  hair ;  yet  let  it  be  combed  at  least  once  in  three  months, 
on  the  quarter-day — I  could  wish  it  might  be  combed  once  at 
least  in  six  weeks  ;  if  I  were  to  indulge  my  wishes,  but  what  are 
wishes,  without  hopes,  I  should  fancy  the  operation  performed — 
one  knows  not  when  one  has  enough — perhaps  every  morning. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam: Johnson. 


'  The  Lord  Chancellor,  when  the 
Lord  Mayor  elect  had  been  pre- 
sented to  him,  told  him  '  what  plea- 
sure they  must  feel  on  a  return  of 
that  dignity,  peace  and  tranquillity, 
which  had  been  lost  and  disturbed 
for  many  years  past ;  and  hoped 
that  matters  would  return  to  the  old 
channel.'  Annual  Register,  IJJT, 
i.  208.  See  Life,  iii.  356,  459,  for 
the  return  of  the  City  to  the  old 
custom  of  appointing  its  Mayors  by 
seniority. 

^  Southey  in  his  Life  of  Wesley 
(ed.  1846),  on  p.  368  of  vol.  i.  speaks 
of  John  Wesley  as  having  only  three 
sisters  who  grew  up.  These  were 
all  married — Mrs.  Wright  (ib.  p. 
378),  Mrs.Whitelamb  {ib.),  and  Mrs. 
Hall  {ante,  i.  372).  He  mentions, 
however,  on  p.  372  Kezia,  who  died 
unmarried  at  an  early  age.     I  can- 


not find  any  mention  of  an  unmarried 
sister  at  this  time. 

^  '  Madam  wore  a  wig  during  many 
years  in  conformity  with  the  Jew- 
women,  having  a  great  notion  that  in 
time  the  Jews  will  be  again  the  great 
Favourites  of  God.  But  about  this 
time  she  fell  acquainted  with  Piozzi, 
who  disliked  a  shaven  poll  in  a 
woman,  and  that  drew  out  of  her  all 
her  Jewish  notions.'     Baretti. 

■*  Problematical  is  in  Johnson's 
Dictionary.  Horace  Walpole  writing 
on  November  13  about  the  reports 
that  Washington  had  lost  1500  or 
500  men  on  the  nth  or  the  25th, 
continues : — '  In  short,  it  is  the 
House  that  Jack  built,  except  that  it 
loses  a  story  in  the  hands  of  every 
new  builder.'     Letters,  vii.  7. 

5  Johnson  has  to  frizle  in  his 
Dictionary,  but  not  to  frizz. 

To 


58  To  Mrs.  Aston.  \k.t>.viii. 

563. 

To  Mrs.  Aston  '. 

Dear   Madam,  London,  Nov.  20,  1777. 

Through  Birmingham  and  Oxford  I  got  without  any  diffi- 
culty or  disaster  to  London,  though  not  in  so  short  a  time 
as  I  expected,  for  I  did  not,  reach  Oxford  before  the  second 
day.  I  came  home  very  much  incommoded  by  obstructed 
respiration,  but  by  vigorous  methods  am  something  better, 
I  have  since  been  at  Brighthehnston,  and  am  now  designing  to 
settle. 

Different  things,  Madam,  are  fit  for  different  people.  It  is  fit 
for  me  to  settle,  and  for  you  to  move.  I  wish  I  could  hear  of 
you  at  Bath,  but  I  am  afraid  that  is  hardly  to  be  expected  from 
your  resolute  inactivity.  My  next  hope  is  that  you  will  en- 
deavour to  grow  well  where  you  are.  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  I  saw  a  visible  amendment  between  the  time  when  I  left 
you  to  go  to  Ashbourne,  and  the  time  when  I  came  back.  I 
hope  you  will  go  on  mending  and  mending,  to  which  exercise 
and  cheerfulness  will  very  much  contribute.  Take  care  there- 
fore, dearest  Madam,  to  be  busy  and  cheerful. 

I  have  great  confidence  in  the  care  and  conversation  of  dear 
Mrs.  Gastrel.  It  is  very  much  the  interest  of  all  that  know  her, 
that  she  should  continue  well,  for  she  is  one  of  few  people  that 
has  the  proper  regard  for  those  that  are  sick.  She  was  so  kind 
to  me  that  I  hope  I  never  shall  forget  it,  and  if  it  be  trouble- 
some to  you  to  write  I  shall  hope  that  she  will  do  me  another 
act  of  kindness  by  answering  this  letter,  for  I  beg  that  I  may 
hear  from  you  by  some  hand  or  another. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

The  address, 'To  Mrs.  Aston,  Stow  Hill,  Lichfield,'  is  in  Mr.  Thrale's 
writing,  the  Letter  being  franked  by  him. 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  r>os-  the  original  in  Pembroke  College 
well^  p.  565.     Corrected  by  me  from      Library. 

To 


Aetat.  68.]  To  Mts.  Povter.  59 

564. 

To  Mrs.  Porter  '. 

Dear  Love,  London,  Nov.  20,  1777. 

You  ordered  me  to  write  you  word  when  I  came  home. 
I  have  been  for  some  days  at  Brighthelmstone,  and  came  back 
on  Tuesday  night. 

You  know  that  when  I  left  you  I  was  not  well  ;  I  have  taken 
physic  very  diligently,  and  am  perceptibly  better ;  so  much 
better  that  I  hope  by  care  and  perseverance  to  recover,  and  see 
you  again  from  time  to  time. 

Mr.  Nollekens,  the  statuary,  has  had  my  direction  to  send  you 
a  cast  of  my  head  -.  I  will  pay  the  carriage  when  we  meet. 
Let  me  know  how  you  like  it ;  and  what  the  ladies  of  your  rout  ^ 
say  to  it.  I  have  heard  different  opinions.  I  cannot  think  where 
you  can  put  it. 

I  found  every  body  here  well.  Miss'*  has  a  mind  to  be 
womanly,  and  her  womanhood  does  not  sit  well  upon  her. 
Please  to  make  my  compliments  to  all  the  ladies  and  all  the 
gentlemen  to  whom  I  owe  them,  that  is,  to  a  great  part  of  the 
town. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

565. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  November  25,  1777.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  210. 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-  who,  after  he  had  sat  an  hour,  refused 

well,  page  565.  to  take  a  shilling,    stating  that   he 

^  An  engraving  from  this  bust  is  could  have  made  more  by  begging, 

given  in  Fielding's  quarto  edition  of  *  *  *    Upon  hearing    the   name  of 

the    Dictionary    and    in     Murray's  an  eminent  sculptor  mentioned  John- 

Johnso7tia7ta,'(>.  ^00.     'Johnson  was  son  observed: — "Well,  Sir,  I  think 

very  much  displeased  at  the  man-  my  friend  Joe  Nollekens  can  chop 

ner   in  which  the   head   had     been  out    a    head   with    any   of    them." ' 

loaded      with       hair,      which     the  Nollekens  and  his   Times,   by  J.  T. 

sculptor  insisted  upon,  as   it    made  Smith,  i.  51. 

him    look     more    like    an     ancient  ^  Johnson   does   not    in   his   Dic- 

poet.     It   had   been  modelled  from  tionary  give   rout  in   the   sense   in 

the  flowing  locks  of  a  sturdy  Irish  which  it  is  used  here, 

beggar,    originally   a    street   pavior,  "  Miss  Thrale. 

To 


6o  To  Mrs.   Gastrell.  [a.d.  1777. 

566. 

To  Mrs.  Gastrell  '. 
Dear  Madam, 

Your  long  silence  portended  no  good  ;  yet  I  hope  the 
danger  is  not  so  near  us  as  our  anxiety  sometimes  makes  us 
fear.  Winter  is  indeed  to  all  those  that  any  distemper  has 
enfeebled  a  very  troublesome  time,  but  care  and  caution  may 
pass  safely  through  it,  and  from  Spring  and  Summer  some 
rehef  is  always  to  be  hoped.  When  I  came  hither,  I  fell  to 
taking  care  of  myself,  and  by  physick  and  opium  had  the  con- 
striction that  obstructed  my  breath  very  suddenly  removed. 
My  nights  still  continue  very  laborious  and  tedious,  but  they  do 
not  grow  worse. 

I  do  not  ask  you,  dear  Madam,  to  take  care  of  Mrs.  Aston, 
I  know  how  little  you  want  any  such  exhortations,  but  I 
earnestly  entreat  her  to  take  care  of  herself.  Many  lives  are 
prolonged  by  a  diligent  attention  to  little  things,  and  I  am  far 
from  thinking  it  unlikely  that  she  may  grow  better  by  degrees. 
However,  it  is  her  duty  to  try,  and  when  we  do  our  duty  we 
have  reason  to  hope. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Bolt-court,  Fleet-street. 
Dec.  27,  1777. 

567. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  December  27,  1777.     Tublished  in  the  Life,  iii.  214. 

568. 
To  James  Boswell. 

[London],  January  24,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  215. 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-      from  the  original  in  Pembroke  Col- 
well,  page   566.     Corrected   by   me      lege  Library. 

To 


Aetat.  68.] 


To   Thomas  CadeLl. 


6i 


Sir, 


569. 


To  Thomas  Cadell  '. 


If  you  should  obtain  what  Mr.  Davies  tells  me  you  design 
to  ask,  the  office  of  Bookseller  and  Printer  to  the  royal  Academy, 
I  take  the  liberty  of  requesting,  and  I  request  with  great  earnest- 
ness, that  for  any  thing  to  be  printed  for  the  Academy,  you  will 
make  use  [of]  Mr.  Allen's  press  in  Bolt  court.  Mr.  Allen  has 
hitherto  done  the  work  without  payment,  and  having  so  long 
laboured  only  to  his  loss,  it  is  reasonable  that  he  should  at  last 
have  some  profit,  at  least  some  recompense. 

Mr.  Allen's  business  is  not  extensive,  and  he  will  be  glad  of 
work  which  greater  Printers  do  not  want,  nor  value,  and  if  you 
continue  him  in  the  employment  you  will  confer  a  great  favour 

upon. 

Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Jan.  28,  1778. 
To  Mr.  Cadell. 


570. 


Sir, 


To 


Poor  Mr.  Gwyn  is  in  great  distress  under  the  weight  of  the 
late  determination  against  him,  and  has  still  hopes  that  some 
mitigation  may  be  obtained.     If  it  be  true  that  whatever  has 


'  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Messrs.  Puttick  and  Simpson 
of  47  Leicester  Square. 

Thomas  Cadell  was  the  apprentice, 
partner  and  successor  of  Andrew 
Millar.  In  conjunction  with  William 
Strahan  he  published  the  Histories 
of  Robertson  and  Gibbon,  the  later 
editions  of  Hume's  Works,  and  some 
of  the  later  works  of  Johnson.  He 
was  not  related  to  Sir  Walter  Scott's 
publisher,  Robert  Cadell  of  Edin- 
burgh. Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan, 
p.  92,  n.  5. 


I  am  informed  by  Mr.  F.  A. 
Eaton,  Secretary  to  the  Royal 
Academy,  that  Thomas  Cadell  was 
printer  to  the  Royal  Academy  from 
1778  to  1793. 

Edmund  Allen  was  'Johnson's 
landlord  and  next  neighbour  in  Bolt 
Court.'     Life,  iii.  141. 

^  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  M.  M.  Holloway  of 
Hillbrow,  St.  Julian's  Road,  Streat- 
ham.  First  published  in  my  edition 
of  the  Life  of  Johnson,  v.  454,  «.  2. 
See  ante,  ii.  1 5. 

by 


62 


To  Mrs.  Porter. 


[A.D.  1778. 


by  his  negligence  been  amiss,  may  be  redressed  for  a  sum 
much  less  than  has  been  awarded,  the  remaining  part  ought 
in  equity  to  be  returned,  or,  what  is  more  desirable,  abated. 
When  the  money  is  once  paid,  there  is  little  hope  of  getting 
it  again. 

The  load  is,  I  believe,  very  hard  upon  him  ;  he  indulges  some 
flattering  opinions  that  by  the  influence  of  his  academical  friends 
it  may  be  lightened,  and  will  not  be  persuaded  but  that  some 
testimony  of  my  kindness  may  be  beneficial.  I  hope  he  has 
been  guilty  of  nothing  worse  than  credulity,  and  he  then  cer- 
tainly deserves  commiseration.  I  never  heard  otherwise  than 
that  he  was  an  honest  man,  and  I  hope  that  by  your  countenance 
and  that  of  other  gentlemen  who  favour  or  pity  him  some  relief 

may  be  obtained. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street, 
Jan.  30,  1778. 

571. 

To  Saunders  Welch. 
[London],  February  3,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  217. 


572 
To  Mrs.  Porter  '. 


Dear  Madam. 


Feb.  19,  1778. 


I  have  several  little  things  to  mention  which  I  have  hitherto 
neglected.  You  judged  rightly  in  thinking  that  the  bust  would 
not  please.  It  is  condemned  by  Mrs.  Thrale,  Mrs.  Reynolds, 
and  Mrs.  Garrick  ;  so  that  your  disapprobation  is  not  singular  ^. 


'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  568. 

^  For  the  bust  sec  ante,  ii.  59. 
Nollekens  thought  it  one  of  his  best 
works,  and  Chantrey  thought  it  his 
finest  work.  Croker's  Bosiuell,  p. 
568,  n.  2.  Mrs.  Thrale's  judgment 
was  perhaps  somewhat  partial,  if  she 


had  already  entered  Nollekens' 
studio  that  morning,  when  not  know- 
ing her,  he  called  out  to  Dr.  Johnson 
who  accompanied  her  :  —  '"I  like 
your  picture  by  Sir  Joshua  very  much. 
He  tells  me  it's  for  Thrale,  a  brewer, 
over  the  water  ;  his  wife's  a  sharp 
woman,    one    of    the    blue-stocking 

These 


Aetat.  G8.] 


To  Mi's.  Montagu. 


>3 


These  things  have  never  cost  me  any  thing,  so  that  I  do  not 
much  know  the  price.  My  bust  was  made  for  the  Exhibition, 
and  shown  for  honour  of  the  artist,  who  is  a  man  of  reputation 
above  any  of  the  other  sculptors.  To  be  modelled  in  clay  costs,  I 
believe,  twenty  guineas,  but  the  casts,  when  the  model  is  made,  are 
of  no  great  price  ;  whether  a  guinea,  or  two  guineas,  I  cannot  tell. 

When  you  complained  for  want  of  oysters,  I  ordered  you  a 
barrel  weekly  for  a  month  ;  you  sent  me  word  sooner  that  you 
had  enough,  but  I  did  not  countermand  the  rest.  If  you  could 
not  eat  them,  could  you  not  give  them  away  ?  When  you  want 
anything,  send  me  word.  I  am  very  poorly,  and  have  very  rest- 
less and  oppressive  nights,  but  always  hope  for  better.  Pray  for  me. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

573. 

To  Mrs.  Montagu  \ 
Madam,  March  5, 1778. 

And  so  you  are  alarmed,  naughty  lady  ^  ?     You  might  know 


people."  "  Nolly,  Nolly,"  observed 
the  Doctor,  "  I  wish  your  maid  would 
stop  your  foolish  mouth  with  a  blue- 
bag."  '  Nollekens  and  his  Times,  i. 
114.  The  author  of  this  book,  J.  T. 
Smith,  Keeper  of  the  Prints,  &c.  in 
the  British  Museum,  says  : — '  I  re- 
member well  when  I  was  in  my  eighth 
year  Mr.  Nollekens  taking  me  to 
Oxford  Road  to  see  Sixteen-string 
Jack  go  to  Tyburn  for  robbing  Dr. 
William  Bell.  He  was  dressed  in  a 
pea-green  coat,  with  an  immense 
nosegay  in  the  button-holes,  which 
had  been  presented  to  him  at  St. 
Sepulchre's  Steps,  and  his  nankin 
small  clothes,  we  were  told,  were 
tied  at  each  knee  with  sixteen  strings. 
After  he  had  passed,  and  Mr. 
Nollekens  was  leading  me  home  by 
the  hand,  I  recollect  his  stooping 
down  to  me,  and  observing  in  a  low 
tone  of  voice  : — "  Tom,  now,  my  little 
man,  if  my  father-in-law,  Mr.  Justice 
Welch,  had  been  High  Constable,  we 
could  have  walked   by    the  side  of 


the  cart  all  the  way  to  Tyburn.'" 
Nollekens  and  his  Times,  by  J.  T. 
Smith,  1828,  i.  24.  Welch  had  once 
been  High  Constable  of  Westminster, 
when  he  had  been  seen  '  dressed  in 
black,  with  a  large  wig,  highly 
powdered,  with  long  flowing  curls,  a 
high  three-cornered  hat  and  his  black 
baton  tipped  with  silver  at  either  end, 
riding  on  a  white  horse  to  Tyburn 
with  the  malefactors.'  lb.  p.  121. 
Sixteen-string  Jack — John  Rann — 
was  hanged  on  November  30,  1774. 
Centl email's  Magazine,  1774,  p.  592. 
'Sixteen-string  Jack,'  said  Johnson, 
'  towered  above  the  common  mark.' 
Life,  iii.  38.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Bell  who 
was  robbed  was  probably  the  Pre- 
bendary of  Westminster  mentioned 
ante,  i.  118. 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  569. 

For  Mrs.  Montagu  see  atite,  i.  '&']. 

^  The  alarm  of  Johnson's  illness 
reached  Edinburgh  and  distressed 
Boswell.       In   one   of    the    London 

that 


64  To  Mrs.  Montagu.  [a.d.  1778. 

that  I  was  ill  enough  when  Mr.  Thrale  brought  you  my  excuse. 
Could  you  think  that  I  missed  the  honour  of  being  at  (your) 
table  for  any  slight  reason?  But  you  (have)  too  many  to  miss 
any  one  of  us,  and  I  am  (proud)  to  be  remembered  at  last.  I 
am  much  better.  A  little  cough  remains,  which  will  not  confine 
me.     To  houses  of  great  delicacy  I  am  not  willing  to  bring  it. 

Now,  dear  Madam,  we  must  talk  of  business.  Poor  Davies, 
the  bankrupt  bookseller,  is  soliciting  his  friends  to  collect  a  small 
sum  for  the  repurchase  of  part  of  his  household  stuff'.  Several 
of  them  gave  him  five  guineas ;  It  would  be  an  honour  to  him  to 
owe  part  of  his  relief  to  Mrs.  Montagu. 

Let  me  thank  you,  Madam,  once  more,  for  your  inquiry;  you 
have,  perhaps,  among  your  numerous  train  not  one  that  values  a 
kind  word  or  a  kind  look  more  than. 

Madam, 

Yours,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

574. 

To  Mrs.  Montagu  =. 
Madam,  March  6,  1778. 

I  hope  Davies,  who  does  not  want  wit,  does  not  want  grati- 
tude, and  then  he  will  be  almost  as  thankful  for  the  bill  as  I  am 
for  the  letter  that  enclosed  it. 

If  I  do  not  lose,  what  I  hope  always  to  keep,  my  reverence  for 
transcendent    merit,    I    shall    continue   to  be   with   unalterable 

fidelity, 

Madam, 

Yours,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

575. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  April  23,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  277. 

papers   '  the   approaching  extinction  '  Life,  iii.  223. 

of  a  bright  luminary  '  was  announced.  "  First  published  in  Croker*s  Bos- 

Life,  iii.  221.  well,  page  570. 

To 


Aetat.  68.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


65 


576. 

^  ,^  To  Mrs.  Thrale ^ 

Dear  Madam,  Apni  30, 1778. 

Since  I  was  fetched  away  from  Streatham,  the  journal  stands 
thus  :      Saturday.— Sir  J.  R 

Sunday. — Mr.  Hoole  ^. 
Monday. — Lord  Lucan  ^ 
Tuesday. — Gen.  Paoli  ^ 
Wednesday. — Mr.  Ramsay. 
Thursday. — Old  Bailey^. 
Friday. — Club  \ 
Saturday. — Sir  J.  R  ^. 
Sunday. — Lady  Lucan  ^ 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  i8. 

April  30,  the  day  on  which  Johnson 
wrote,  was  a  Thursday. 

'^  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  See  Life, 
iii.  317,  for  an  account  of  the  dinner. 

^  Life,  ii.  289,  n.  1. 

"  '  At  the  house  of  Lord  and  Lady 
Lucan  Johnson  often  enjoyed  all  that 
an  elegant  table  and  the  best  com- 
pany can  contribute  to  happiness.' 
Life,  iv.  326. 

^  See  lb.  iii.  324  for  an  account  of 
this  dinner  and  p.  331  for  an  account 
of  the  dinner  at  Mr.  Allan  Ramsay's. 

^  '  The  dinner  at  the  Old  Bailey,' 
says  Mr.  Croker,  '  is  one  given  during 
the  Sessions  to  the  judges,  counsel, 
and  a  few  guests.  The  venerable 
Mr.  Clarke,  Chamberlain  of  London, 
who  died  in  1831,  in  his  ninety-third 
year,  told  me  that  he  remembered 
having  taken  Johnson  to  this  dinner, 
he  being  then  sheriff.  The  judges 
were  Blackstone  and  Eyre.  Mr. 
Justice  Blackstone  conversed  with 
Johnson  on  the  subject  of  their 
absent  friend,  Sir  Robert  Chambers.' 
Croker's  Boswell,  p.  610,  n.  i.  '  The 
Sessions  which  began  on  Wednesday 
last,  April  29,  at  the  Old  Bailey, 
ended    on   Tuesday,    May   5,   when 

VOL.  IL  F 


fourteen  convicts  received  sentence 
of  death.'  Gentleman^ s  Magazine, 
1778,  p.  235. 

''  Boswell  wrote  on  April  4, 1775  :— 
'  I  dine,  Friday,  at  the  Turk's  Head, 
Gerrard-street,  with  our  Club,  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds,  &c.,  who  now  dine 
once  a  month,  and  sup  every  Friday. 
Letters  of  Boswell,  p.  186.  He  was 
not  there  this  Friday. 

^  At  this  dinner,  says  Boswell, 
'  there  were  several  people  by  no 
means  of  the  Johnsonian  School,  so 
that  less  attention  was  paid  to  him 
than  usual,  which  put  him  out  of 
humour  ;  and  upon  some  imaginary 
offence  from  me,  he  attacked  me  with 
such  rudeness,  that  I  was  vexed  and 
angry,  because  it  gave  those  persons 
an  opportunity  of  enlarging  upon  his 
supposed  ferocity,  and  ill  treatment 
of  his  best  friends.  I  was  so  much 
hurt,  and  had  my  pride  so  much 
roused,  that  I  kept  away  from  him 
for  a  week ;  and,  perhaps,  might 
have  kept  away  much  longer,  nay, 
gone  to  Scotland  without  seeing  him 
again,  had  not  we  fortunately  met 
and  been  reconciled.'  Life,  iii.  337. 
For  the  reconciliation  see  ib.  p.  338. 

^  '  Lady    Spencer,'    said    Samuel 

Monday. 


66  To  Matiritius  Lowe.  [a.d.  1778. 

Monday. — Pray  let  it  be  Streatham,  and  very  early ;  do  now- 
let  it  be  very  early.  For  I  may  be  carried  away — ^just  like 
Ganymede  of  Troy. 

I  hope  my  master  grows  well,  and  my  mistress  continues  bad  ^ 
I  am  afraid  the  ladies  will  be  gone,  and  I  shall  say, 

She's  gone,  and  never  knew  how  much  I  lov'd  her. 

Do  now  let  me  know  whether  you  will  send  for  me — early — 
on  Monday.  But  take  some  care,  or  your  letter  will  not  come 
till  Tuesday.  j  ^^^  ^^^^^^^  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

577. 
To  Mauritius  Lowe"*. 
Sir,  [London,  (?)  May  15, 1778.] 

I  spoke  at  the  Exhibition  to  Sir  Joshua  and  Mr.  Garrick, 
and  found  them  both  cold  enough.  Mr.  Garrick,  however, 
seemed  to  relent,  and  I  think  you  have  reason  to  expect  some- 
thing from  him  ;  but  he  must  be  tenderly  handled.  I  have  just, 
however,  received  what  will  please  and  gratify  you.  I  have  sent 
it  just  as  it  came.     Write  to  return  thanks. 

Your  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Mr.  Lowe,  Hedge  Lane. 

Rogers,  '  recollected  Johnson  well,  as  who  is  mentioned,  died  in  January 

she  used  to  see  him  often  in  her  girl-  1779.     It  was   probably  written    on 

hood.      Her   mother.    Lady   Lucan,  May  15,  1778,  as  is  shown  by  a  letter 

would  say,  "  Nobody  dines  with  us  in  the    Garrick    Correspondejtce,   ii. 

to-day  ;  therefore,  child,  we'll  go  and  306,    in    which    Lowe    on    that   day 

get  Dr.  Johnson."     So   they   would  acknowledges      the     receipt      from 

drive  to    Bolt  Court  and  bring   the  Garrick  of  ten  pounds.     It  was  very 

doctor  home  with  them.'     Rogers's  likely  that  sum  which  Johnson  sent 

Table  Talk,  p.  10.  on  'just  as  it  came.' 

'  Ante,  ii.  44,  n.  7.  A   fortnight    or   so   earlier,   when 

'  First  published  in  the  Examiner  driving     with      Boswell,     'Johnson 

for  May  24,  1873,  by  Mr.  G.  Turrefif  stopped  first  at  the  bottom  of  Hedge 

of  Aberdeen,  who  had  been  shown  the  Lane,  into  which  he  went  to  leave  a 

original  of  this  and  others  of  John-  letter,  "with  good  news  for  a  poor 

son's    letters    by    Lowe's    daughter,  man    in   distress,"  as   he   told   me.' 

Johnson's   god-child.     The  letter  is  Life,   iii.   324.     For  an   account   of 

wrongly  dated  by  him  1782.  Garrick,  Lowe  see  Life,  iii.  380  ;  iv.  201. 

To 


Aetat.  68.]  To  James  Elphiiiston.  67 


578. 

To  James  Bosvvell, 
London,  July  3,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  362. 

579. 

To  William  Strahan. 
London,  July  27,  1778.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iii.  364. 

580. 

3lR  To  James  Elphinston  '. 

Having  myself  suffered  what  you  are  now  suffering,  I  well 
know  the  weight  of  your  distress,  how  much  need  you  have  of  com- 
fort, and  how  little  comfort  can  be  given.  A  loss  such  as  yours 
lacerates  the  mind,  and  breaks  the  whole  system  of  purposes  and 
hopes.  It  leaves  a  dismal  vacuity  in  life,  which  affords  nothing 
on  which  the  affections  can  fix,  or  to  which  endeavour  may  be 
directed.  All  this  I  have  known,  and  it  is  now,  in  the  vicissitude 
of  things,  your  turn  to  know  it  ^ 

But  in  the  condition  of  mortal  beings,  one  must  lose  another. 
What  would  be  the  wretchedness  of  life,  if  there  was  not  some- 
thing always  in  view,  some  Being  immutable  and  unfailing,  to 
whose    mercy   man    may  have    recourse.     Toi-    Trpwroy    KivovvTa 

aKLVTJTOV^. 

Here  we  must  rest.  The  greatest  Being  is  the  most  bene- 
volent.    We  must  not  grieve  for  the  dead  as  men  without  hope  **, 

'  First  published  in  Memoirs  of  the  retrace   the   past    or  anticipate   the 

Life  and  Wrilings  of  Dj:  fohnso/i,  future.     The  continuity  of  being  is 

London,  1785,  page  168.  lacerated  ;  the  settled  course  of  senti- 

For'^Elphinston  see  ante,  i.  17.  ment  and  action  is  stopped  ;  and  life 

^  Eighteen  months  later  Johnson  stands  suspended  and  motionless,  till 

wrote  to  his  friend  Dr.  Lawrence  who  it  is  driven  by  external  causes  into 

had  just  lost  his  wife  : — 'He  that  out-  a  new   channel.      But   the   time   of 

lives  a  wife  whom  he  has  long  loved,  suspense  is  dreadful.'     Life,  iii.  419. 

sees  himself  disjoined  from  the  only  See  also  ante,  i.  383. 

mind  that  has  the  same  hopes,  and  ^  '"Eo-ti  yap  n  6  del  Kivel  to.  kivov- 

fears,  and   interest ;    from  the   only  fxeva    Ka\   to   -npcoTov    kivovv   aKivrjTov 

companion  with  whom  he  has  shared  avro.'      Aristotle,  Metaph.  iii.  8  sub 

much  good  or  evil ;  and  with  whom  finem. 

he  could  set  his  mind  at  liberty,  to  **  i  Thessalonians,  iv.  13. 

F  2  because 


68  To  John  Nichols.  [a.d.  1778. 

because  we  know  that  they  are  in  his  hands.  We  have  indeed 
not  leisure  to  grieve  long,  because  we  are  hastening  to  follow 
them.  Your  race  and  mine  have  been  interrupted  by  many 
obstacles,  but  we  must  humbly  hope  for  an  happy  end. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
July  27, 1778.  Sam  :  Johnson. 

581. 

gjj^  To  John  Nichols  \ 

You  have  now  all  Cowley.  I  have  been  drawn  to  a  great 
length,  but  Cowley  or  Waller  never  had  any  critical  examination 
before.  I  am  very  far  advanced  in  Diyden,  who  will  be  long 
too.     The  next  great  life  I  purpose  to  be  Milton  s'^. 

It  will  be  kind  if  you  will  gather  the  Lives  of  Denham,  Butler, 
and  Waller,  and  bind  them  in  half  binding  in  a  small  volume, 
and  let  me  have  it  to  shew  my  Friends,  as  soon  as  may  be.  I 
sincerely  hope  the  press  shall  stand  no  more. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 
July  27, 1778. 
To  Mr.  Nichols, 

582. 

Sir,  To  John  Nichols  3.  August,  1778. 

You  have  now  the  life  of  Dryden  and  you  see  it  is  very  long. 
You  must  however  have  an  appendix. 

'  First   published    in   the    Gentle-  Museum.  From  them  I  have  supplied 

maris  Magazine  for  1785,  page  9.  some  omissions. 

This  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  letters  Johnson  had  once  thought  of  pub- 
written  to  John  Nichols,  printer,  lishing  an  edition  of  Cowley.  /i(^.  iii.  29. 
editor,  and  author,  while  the  Zzwj  ^  'His  Life  of  Cowley  he  considered 
the  Poets  were  going  through  the  as  the  best  of  the  whole.'  lb.  iv.  38. 
press.  Most  of  these  letters  were  "  '  Milton's  Life  was  begun  in 
published  by  Nichols  in  the  Gefit/e-  January,  1779,  and  finished  in  six 
man's  Magazifte  ( 1 785,  p.  9)  of  which  weeks.'  Ge?7tleman's  Magazine,  1 785, 
he  was  editor.     Some  of  them  Bos-  p.  9,  ?i.  I. 

well  inserted  in  a  note  in  the  Life,  iv.  ^  First   published    in    the  Gentle- 

36.     The  originals  are  in  the  British  man's  Magazine,  17S5,  page  9. 

The 


Aetat.  69.] 


To  JVh's.  Tlirale. 


69 


1.  The  invocation  to  the  Georgicks  from    Milbourne'    (this 
in  the  small  print). 

2.  Dryden's  remarks  on  Rymer,  which  are  nearly  transcribed  ^ 

3.  Dryden's  letter  from  Lambeth,  which  is  promised  me  ^. 

I  am. 
Sir,  &c., 

[Sam:  Johnson.] 

To  Mr.  Nichols. 

583. 

To  Mrs.  ThraleI 

Dearest  Madam,  October  15, 1778. 

You  that  are  among  all  the  wits,  delighting  and  delighted, 
have  little  need  of  entertainment  from  me,  whom  you  left  at 
home  unregarded  and  unpitied,  to  shift  in  a  world  to  which  you 
have  made  me  so  much  a  stranger ;  yet  I  know  you  will  pretend 
to  be  angry  if  I  do  not  write  a  letter,  which,  when  you  know  the 
hand,  you  will  perhaps  lay  aside  to  be  read  when  you  are  dress- 
ing to-morrow ;  and  which,  when  you  have  read  it,  if  that  time 
ever  comes,  you  will  throw  away  into  the  drawer  and  say — stuff ! 

As  to  Dr.  Collier's  epitaph,  Nollekens  has  had  it  so  long,  that  I 
have  forgotten  how  long.  You  never  had  it.  So  you  may  set 
the  S s  at  defiance  ^ 


'  '  The  invocation  before  the 
Georgicks  is  here  inserted  from  Mr. 
Milbourne's  version,  that,  according 
to  his  own  proposal,  his  verses  may 
be  compared  with  those  which  he 
censures.'   Johnson's  Wo7'ks,  vii.  348. 

^  These  remarks  were  written  by 
Dryden  on  the  blank  leaves  of 
Rymer's  Remarks  on  the  Tragedies 
of  the  last  Age.  Johnson  had  had 
them  copied  from  the  original,  which 
was  in  Garrick's  possession.    lb.  p. 

350. 

'  lb.  p.  358. 

'*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  20. 

^  The  death  of  Dr.  Arthur  Collier 
of  Doctors  Commons  on  May  23, 
1777,  is  recorded  in  the  Gentleinaii  s 


Magazine  for  that  year,  p.  248.  He 
had  been  a  constant  guest  at  the 
house  of  Lady  Salusbury,  where  Mrs. 
Thrale  had  passed  much  of  her  girl- 
hood. Speaking  of  her  suitors  she 
says : — '  It  was  my  sport  to  mimic 
some,  and  drive  others  back,  in  order 
to  make  Dr.  Collier  laugh,  who  did 
not  perhaps  wish  to  see  me  give  a 
heart  away  which  he  held  completely 
in  his  hand,  since  he  kindly  became 
my  preceptor  in  Latin,  logic,  rhetoric, 
&c.'    Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  250.   '  The 

S s,'  she  says,  ineans  '  the  Streat- 

field,'  forgetful  of  the  final  s.  She 
accused  Miss  Streatfield  '  of  en- 
deavouring to  supplant  her  in  the 
esteem   of  Mr.  Thrale ; '   and  adds 

There 


70 


To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1778. 


There  is  a  print  of  Mrs.  Montague,  and  I  shall  think  myself 
very  ill  rewarded  for  my  love  and  admiration  if  she  does  not  give 
me  one  '  ;  she  will  give  it  nobody  in  whom  it  will  excite  more 
respectful  sentiments.  But  I  never  could  get  any  thing  from  her 
but  by  pushing  a  face  ;  and  so,  if  you  please,  you  may  tell  her. 

I  hope  you  let   Miss  S know  how  safe  you  keep  her 

book.  It  was  too  fine  for  a  scholar's  talons.  I  hope  she  gets 
books  that  she  may  handle  with  more  freedom,  and  understand 
with  less  difficulty.     Do  not  let  her  forget  me. 

When  I  called  the  other  day  at  Burney's,  I  found  only  the 
young  ones  at  home  ;  at  last  came  the  Doctor  and  Madam,  from 
a  dinner  in  the  country,  to  tell  how  they  had  been  robbed  as  they 
returned.  The  Doctor  saved  his  purse,  but  gave  them  three 
guineas  and  some  silver,  of  which  they  returned  him  three-and- 
sixpence,  unasked,  to  pay  the  turnpike  ^ 

I  have  sat  twice  to  Sir  Joshua,  and  he  seems  to  like  his  own 
performance.  He  has  projected  another,  in  which  I  am  to  be 
busy'^;  but  we  can  think  on  it  at  leisure. 

Mrs.  Williams  is  come  home  better,  and  the  habitation  is  all 
concord  and  harmony;  only  Mr.  Levet  harbours  discontent. 

With  Dr.  Lawrence's  consent^  I  have,  for  the  two  last  nights, 

'  that  she  was  very  dangerous  indeed  the  Sugar  Cane,  wrote  to  Dr.  Percy 

both  from  her  beauty  and  learning.'  on  March  24,  1764  : — '  I  was  robbed 

Jb.  p.  297.     See  also  ib.  ii.  329,  and  about  3  o'clock  of  the  Day  we  parted, 

Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  203,  for  about  three   miles  on  this  side  St. 

an  account  of  this  young  lady.  Albans,     Luckily  he  did  not  ask  for 

'  See^tfj/,  Letter  of  March  18,1779,  my  watch,  and  went  off  by  telling 

where  Johnson  says  :— '  I  called  for  me  he  was  sorry  to  take  our  money, 

the  print,  and  got  good  words.'     He  So  civil  are  our  Highwaymen.      In 

had    in    his    dining-room,    he    said,  France   or  Spain   our  death  would 

'  portraits  of  some  very  respectable  have  preceded  the  robbery.'     Messrs. 

people.'     Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  Sotheby's    Auction     Catalogue    for 

41.     \nih&  Auction  Catalogue  oih'xs  November  27,  1889.     Lot  75. 
Library  the  last  lot  is  a  print  of  Mrs.  "  Mr.  Taylor  is  inclined  to  think 

Montagu,  framed  and  glazed.  that  the  former  of  these  two  pictures 

"  Probably  Miss   Streatfield,  who  is    the    one   which    is    now   in    the 

had   read   the   first   eight  books   of  CommonRoomof  Pembroke  College, 

Homer.     Johnson  said  of  her   that  Oxford,  and  the  latter  the  picture  in 

'taking  away  her  Creek  she  was  as  which  Johnson   holds  a  book  close 

ignorant  as  a  butterfly.'    Mme.  D'Ar-  to   his   eyes.       Leslie   and  Taylor's 

blay's  Diary,  i.  221.  Reynolds,  ii.  223. 


^  James    Grainger,  the   author  of 


taken 


Aetat.  69.]  To   ThoDias  Cadell.  71 

taken  musk  ;  the  first  night  was  a  worse  night  than  common,  the 
second  a  better,  but  not  so  much  better  as  that  I  dare  ascribe 
any  virtue  to  the  medicine.      I  took  a  scruple  each  time. 

Now  Miss  has  seen  the  camp,  I  think  she  should  write  me 
some  account  of  it.  A  camp,  however  familiarly  we  may  speak 
of  it,  is  one  of  the  great  scenes  of  human  life '.  War  and  peace 
divide  the  business  of  the  world.  Camps  are  the  habitations  of 
those  who  conquer  kingdoms,  or  defend  them. 

But  what  are  wits,  and  pictures,  and  camps,  and  physick  ?  There 
is  still  a  nearer  concern  to  most  of  us. — Is  my  master  come  to  him- 
self? Does  he  talk,  and  walk,  and  look  about  him,  as  if  there  were 
yet  something  in  the  world  for  which  it  is  worth  while  to  live  ?  Or 
does  he  yet  sit  and  say  nothing  ^  ?  He  was  mending  before  he 
went,  and  surely  he  has  not  relapsed.  To  grieve  for  evils  is 
often  wrong ;  but  it  is  much  more  wrong  to  grieve  without  them. 
All  sorrow  that  lasts  longer  than  its  cause  is  morbid,  and  should 
be  shaken  off  as  an  attack  of  melancholy,  as  the  forerunner  of 
a  greater  evil  than  poverty  or  pain. 

I  never  said  with  Dr.  Dodd  \kvdXl  love  to  prattle  upon  paper ^  but 
I  have  prattled  now  till  the  paper  will  not  hold  much  more  than 
my  good  wishes,  which  I  sincerely  send  you. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

584. 

To  Thomas  Cadell. 

[London],  October  17,  1778. 

In  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Co.'s  Auction  Catalogue  for  May  10,  1875, 
Lot  96  is  'a  Letter  of  Johnson  to  Mr.  Cadell,  one  page  quarto,  dated 
October  17,  1778.  Apologises  for  the  delay  in  returning  the  proof 
sheets,  mentioning  those  of  the  Life  of  Drydeii! 

It  was  sold  for  ^^5  2s.  dd. 

'  In  the  alarm  of  a  French  invasion  places  to  learn  the  world  in.'  Letters 
the  mihtia  had  been  called  out.  to  tiis  So?i,  i.  276. 
Bennet  Langton,  as  a  Captain  in  the  ■  '  The  poor  man  could  never  sub- 
Lincolnshire  Militia,  was  this  month  due  his  grief  on  account  of  his  son's 
encamped  on  Warley  Common.  Lfe,  death.' — Baretti.  The  following 
iii.  365.  Lord  Chesterfield  said  that  summer  he  had  an  attack  of  apoplexy, 
'  Courts    and    Camps    are   the    only  Post,  p.  94. 

To 


72  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a .d.  1778. 


585. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dearest  Lady,  London,  October  24,  1778. 

I  have  written  Miss  such  a  long  letter  ^  that  I  cannot  tell 
how  soon  I  shall  be  weary  of  writing  another,  having  made  no 
new  discoveries  since  my  last,  either  in  art  or  nature,  which  may 
not  be  kept  till  we  see  each  other  ;  and  sure  that  time  is  not  far 
off.  The  Duchess  is  a  good  Duchess  for  courting  you  while  she 
stays,  and  for  not  staying  to  court  you,  till  my  courtship  loses  - 
all  its  value.  You  are  there  as  I  would  have  you,  except  your 
humours.  When  my  master  grows  well,  must  you  take  your 
turn  to  be  melancholy  ?  You  appear  to  me  to  be  now  floating 
on  the  springtide  of  prosperity ;  on  a  tide  not  governed  by  the 
moon,  but  as  the  moon  governs  your  heads  ;  on  a  tide  therefore 
which  is  never  likely  to  ebb  but  by  your  own  faults.  I  think  it 
very  probably  in  your  power  to  lay  up  eight  thousand  pounds 
a-year  for  every  year  to  come,  encreasing  all  the  time,  what 
needs  not  be  encreased,  the  splendour  of  all  external  appearance^. 
And  surely  such  a  state  is  not  to  be  put  into  yearly  hazard  for 
the  pleasure  of  keeping  the  house  full,  or  the  ambition  of  out- 
brewing  Whitbread''.  Stop  now  and  you  are  safe — stop  a  few 
years  and  you  may  go  safely  on  hereafter,  if  to  go  on  shall  seem 
worth  the  while. 

I  am  sorry  for  Mrs.  *  »  »  *  ;  we  never  could  make  any  thing  of 
the  lawyer,  when  we  had  him  among  us.  *  *  *  *  has  got  some 
vanity  in  her  head.  Vanity  always  oversets  a  lady's  judgment. 
I  have  not  told,  unless  it  be  Williams,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I 
have  told  her.  If  Streatfield  has  a  little  kindness  for  me,  I  am 
glad.  I  call  now  and  then  on  the  Burneys,  where  you  are  at  the 
top  of  mortality. When  will  you  come  home  ? 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  24.  written    to   Boswell :— '  Mr.  Thrale 

="  '  Miss  Thrale  refused  to  give  up  dislikes  tlie  times  like  the  rest  of  us.' 

that  and  some  other  letters  the  doctor  Life,  iii.  363. 

wrote  her  when  her  mother  applied  "^  '  Which  was  Thrale's  only  ambi- 

to  her  for  them.'— Baretti.  tion.'— BARErn.     See  ante,  ii.  23. 
^  Yet  on  July  3  of  this  year  he  had 

Two 


Aetat.  69.]  To  Mvs.  Tkrale.  7  3 

Two  days  ago  Dr.  Lawrence  ordered  a  new  medicine,  which  I 
think  to  try  to-night,  but  my  hopes  are  not  high.  I  mean  to 
try  however,  and  not  languish  without  resistance. 

Young  Desmouhns  '  is  taken  in  a7i  under  something  of  Drury- 
lane  ;  he  knows  not,  I  believe,  his  own  denomination. 

My  two  clerical  friends,  Darby  and  Worthington,  have  both 
died  this  month  ^.  I  have  known  Worthington  long,  and  to  die 
is  dreadful.     I  believe  he  was  a  very  good  man. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

586. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  3. 
Dear  Madam,  October  31, 1778. 

Your   letter   seemed   very  long   a-coming,   and    was   very 

welcome  at  last  ;  do  not  be  so  long  again. 

Long  live  Sir  John  Shelly  ■*,  that  lures  my  master  to  hunt.     I 

hope  he  will  soon  shake  off  the  black  dog  ^,  and  come  home  as 

light  as  a  feather.     And  long  live  Mrs.  G ,  that  downs  ^  my 

mistress.     I  hope  she  will  come  home  as  flexible  as  a  rush.     I 

see  my  wish  is  rather  ambiguous,  it  is  to  my  mistress  that  I  wish 

flexibility.     As  to  the  imitation  imputed  to  Mrs.  G ,  if  she 

makes  any  thing  like  a  copy,  her  powers  of  imitation  are  very 

'  He  was  the   son  of  Mrs.  Des-  visited    Dr.  Worthington    at    Llan- 

moulins   [ante,  i.  6,  n.   3),  and   the  rhaiadr.     Life,  v.  453.     Derby,  not 

grandson    of    Johnson's    god-father  Darby,  was  the  name  of  Johnson's 

Dr.  Swinfen.     He  had  one   famous  other  friend, 

day  in  his  Hfe.     At  Johnson's  funeral  ^  Piozzi  Letters^  ii.  26. 

he  rode    in  the    same    carriage   as  *  A)ite,  ii.  44. 

Burke  and  Windham.    See  list  of  the  ^  Johnson  uses  the  same  expres- 

persons  at  the  funeral  in  the  British  sion  ofThrale,/^i-/,  p.  76  ;  of  himself, 

Museum,  Add.  MSS.  33,498.  post.  Letter  of  June  28,  1783,  and  of 

^  '  October  6,  1778.     Dr.  William  Boswell,  Life,  iii.  414.     Mrs.  Thrale 

Worthington,    sen.,    of    Llanrhadra,  replied  to  Johnson  from  Brighton  : — 

Denbighshire,    Prebendary     of    St.  '  My  master  swims  now,  and  forgets 

Asaph.       The    Rev.     John    Derby,  the  black  dog.'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  33. 

Rector  of  Southfleet  and  Longfield  *  See  Life,  iii.  335,  where  Johnson 

in  Kent.     He  was  editor  of  Bishop  said : — '  Robertson  was  in  a  mighty 

Pearce's  posthumous  works.'  Gentle-  romantic  humour,  he  talked  of  one 

inaiis  Magazine,   1778,  p.  495.     In  whom  he  did  not  know  ;  but  I  ^/cw/z^^ 

1774  Johnson  and  the  Thrales  had  him  with  the  King  of  Prussia.' 

great, 


74 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1778. 


great,  for  I  do  not  remember  that  she  ever  saw  me  but  once.  If 
she  copies  me  she  will  lose  more  credit  by  want  of  judgment 
than  she  will  gain  by  quickness  of  apprehension. 

Of  Mrs.  B '  I  have  no  remembrance  ;   perhaps  her  voice 

is  low. 

Miss  »  *  *  *  is  just  gone  from  me.  I  told  her  how  you  took 
to  them  all ;  but  told  her  likewise  how  you  took  to  Miss  *  *  *  *. 
All  poisons  have  their  antidotes. 

Sir  Joshua  has  finished  my  picture,  and  it  seems  to  please 
every  body,  but  I  shall  wait  to  see  how  it  pleases  you. 

Of  your  conditions  of  happiness,  do  not  set  your  heart  upon 
any  but  what  Providence  puts  in  your  own  power.  Your  debts  ^ 
you  may  pay — much  you  may  lay  up.  The  rest  you  can  only 
pray  for.  Of  your  daughters,  three  are  out  of  the  danger  of 
children's  distempers,  the  other  two  have  hardly  yet  tried 
whether  they  can  live  or  no.  You  ought  not  yet  to  count  them 
among  your  settled  possessions. 

Is  it  true  that  Mrs.  D ^  is  enceinte  ?     It  will  give  her  great 

influence. 

To-day  Mrs.  Williams  and  Mrs.  Desmoulines  had  a  scold,  and 
Williams  was  going  away,  but  I  bid  her  7iot  ticrn  tail,  and  she 
came  back,  and  rather  got  the  upper  hand  "*. 

I  wish  you  would  come  back  again  to  us  all  ;  you  will  find 
nobody  among  your  fine  ladies  that  will  love  you  as  you  are 
loved  by. 

Dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  Perhaps     Mrs.     Byron.       Post, 

P-79. 

^  See  ante,  i.  192, «.  3. 

^  Perhaps  the  Mrs.  D men- 
tioned ante,  i.  333. 

■*  For  the  inmates  of  Johnson's 
house  see  Life,  iii.  368,  461.  J, 
Cradock  said  that  '  he  once  accom- 
panied Dr.  Johnson  and  Mr.Steevens 
to  Marylebone  Gardens  to  see  La 
Serva  Padrona  performed.  Steevens, 
being   quite  weary  of  the   Burletta, 


exclaimed  : — "  There  is  no  plot,  it  is 
merely  an  old  fellow  cheated  and 
deluded  by  his  servant ;  it  is  quite 
foolish  and  unnatural."  Johnson 
instantly  replied : — "  Sir,  it  is  not 
unnatural ;  it  is  a  scene  that  is  acted 
in  my  family  every  day  in  my  life." 
This  did  not  allude  to  the  maid- 
servant so  much  as  to  the  two  dis- 
tressed ladies  who  were  always 
quarrelling.'  Nichols's  Lit.  Anec, 
ix.  779- 

To 


Aetat.  69.]  To  Mts.  Tkralc.  75 

587. 
To  Captain  Langton. 
[London],  October  31,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  365. 

588. 
To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Wheeler. 
London,  November  2,  1778.     PubUshed  in  the  Life,  iii.  376. 

589. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Edwards. 
London,  November  2,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  367. 

590. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dear  Madam,  Nov.  9,  1778. 

The  Lord   Mayor  has  had  a  dismal  day. — Will  not  this 

weather  drive  you  home  ?     Perhaps  you  know  not  any  body  that 

will  be  glad  to  see  you.     I  hope  our  well  will  yield  water  again, 

and  something  fuller  you  will  find  the  pond ;    but  then  all  the 

trees  are  naked,  and  the  ground  damp — but  the  year  must  go 

round. 

While  you  are  away  I  take  great  delight  in  your  letters,  only 
when  you  talk  so  much  of  obligations  to  me,  you  should  consider 
how  much  you  put  me  into  the  condition  of  honest  Joseph  ^ 

Young  Desmoulines  thinks  he  has  got  something,  he  knows 
not  what,  at  Drury-lane  ;  his  mother  talks  little  of  it. — Sure  it  is 
not  a  humm^"}  Mr.  Levet,  who  thinks  his  ancient  rights  invaded, 
stands  at  bay,  fierce  as  ten  furies  \  Mrs.  Williams  growls  and 
scolds,  but  Poll  ^  does  not  much  flinch.     Every  body  is  in  want. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  28.  fessessious  way  with  you,  as  that  I 

^  Johnson  refers  to  Joseph  Leman  hardly  know  whether  you  are  in  jest 

in    Clarissa,    who    wrote   to    Love-  or  earnest,  when  your  honner  calls 

lace  : — '  Be  pleased  howsomever,    if  me  honnest  so  often.'     Clarissa,  ed. 

it  like  your  honner,  not  to  call  me  18 10,  ii.  370. 

honnest  foseph,  and  honnest  foseph  -^  A  hoax.     Not  in  Johnson's  Dic- 

so  often.     For  althofif  I  think  myself  tio7iary. 

verry  honest  and  all  that,  yet  I  am  ■*  Paradise  Lost,  ii.  671. 

touched  a  littel,  for  fear  I  should  not  ^  A  Miss  Carmichael  whom  he  had 

do  the  quite  right  thing  ;    and  too  taken  in.     Life,  iii.  222,  368. 

besides    your    honner    has    such    a 

I  shall 


76 


To  Mrs.  Tlirale. 


[A.D.  1778. 


I  shall  be  glad  to  see  Streatham  again,  but  I  can  find  no  reason 

for  going  to  Brighthelmstone,  but  that  of  seeing  my  master  and 

you  three  days  sooner. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

591. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dearest  Madam,  Nov.  14, 1778. 

Then  I  really  think  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  you  all  safe 
at  home.  I  shall  easily  forgive  my  master  his  long  stay,  if  he 
leaves  the  dog  behind  him.  We  will  watch,  as  well  as  we  can, 
that  the  dog  shall  never  be  let  in  again,  for  when  he  comes  the 
first  thing  he  does  is  to  worry  my  master.  This  time  he  gnawed 
him  to  the  bone.  Content,  said  Rider's  almanack  -,  makes  a 
man  richer  than  the  Indies.  But  surely  he  that  has  the  Indies 
in  his  possession,  may  without  very  much  philosophy  make  him- 
self content.  So  much  for  my  master  and  his  dog,  a  vile  one  it 
is,  but  I  hope  if  he  is  not  hanged  he  is  drowned  ;  with  another 
lusty  shake  he  will  pick  my  master's  heart  out. 

I  have  begun  to  take  valerian  ;  the  two  last  nights  I  took  an 
ounce  each  night — a  very  loathsome  quantity.  Dr.  Lawrence 
talked  of  a  decoction,  but  I  say,  all  or  nothing.  The  first  night 
I  thought  myself  better,  but  the  next  it  did  me  no  good. 

Young  Desmoulines  says,  he  is  settled  at  a  weekly  pay  of 
twenty-five  shillings,  about  forty  pounds  a-year^     Mr.  Macbean 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  yj. 

^  Rider's  British  Merlin  began  in 
1655  and  ended  in  1840.  A  few 
months  after  the  date  of  Johnson's 
letter  Lord  North  brought  in  a  Bill 
to  vest  the  sole  right  of  printing 
Almanacks  in  the  two  Universities  of 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  and  the  Com- 
pany of  Stationers.  Their  supposed 
exclusive  patent  had  been  recently 
certified  void  by  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas.  Erskine,  speaking  at  the  Bar 
of  the  House  against  the  Bill,  said  : — 
'  It  is  notorious  that  the  Universities 
sell  their  right  to  the  Stationers' 
Company,  who   make  a  scandalous 


job  of  the  bargain,  and,  to  increase 

the  sale  among  the  vulgar,  publish 
under  the  auspices  of  religion  and 
learning,  the  most  senseless  ab- 
surdities. I  should  have  been  glad  to 
cite  some  sentences  from  the  113th 
edition  of  Poor  Robin's  Alnianack, 
published  under  the  revision  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the 
Bishop  of  London.  But  I  know  no 
house  —  but  a  brothel  —  that  could 
suffer  the  quotation.'  The  Bill  was 
lost.     Pari.  Hist.,  xx.  60S. 

^  No  doubt  Drury  Lane  Theatre  at 
which  he  was  engaged  was  closed 
many  weeks  each  year. 

has 


Aetat.  69.] 


To  Mrs.  Tlirale. 


11 


has  no  business'.  We  have  tolerable  concord  at  home,  but  no 
love.  Williams  hates  every  body.  Levet  hates  Desmoulines, 
and  does  not  love  Williams.  Desmoulines  hates  them  both. 
Poll  loves  none  of  them. 

Dr.  Bumey  had  the  luck  to  go  to  Oxford  the  only  week  in  the 
year  when  the  library  is  shut  up.  He  was  however  very  kindly 
treated  ;  as  one  man  is  translating  Arabick,  and  another  Welsh, 
for  his  service  ^.  Murphy  told  me  that  you  wrote  to  him  about 
Evelina.     Francis  wants  to  read  it  ^. 


^  Ante,  i.  319,  2tXi^  post,  p.  81. 

^  Bumey  was  seeking  materials  for 
a  History  of  Music.  The  two  intro- 
ductions which  Johnson  gave  him 
were  dated  November  2.  Life,  iii. 
366.  By  the  Statutes  of  1768  the 
Library  was  opened  every  day  but 
Sundays,  Christmas  Day,  and  the 
other  gi'eat  festivals  of  the  Church, 
and  the  days  appointed  for  the  in- 
spection of  the  Library  by  the 
Curators.  At  this  period  the  inspec- 
tion was  held  once  a  year — on 
November  8.  Corpus  Statutorum 
Universitatis  Oxoniensis,  1 768.  Ap- 
pendix, pp.  10,  18.  The  custom  had 
apparently  arisen  of  closing  the  Li- 
brary for  a  week  beforehand  for  the 
sake  of  preparing  for  the  great  day. 
This  custom  was  sanctioned  by  the 
Statutes  of  18 1 3.  At  the  present 
time  it  is  closed  for  cleaning  the  first 
week  of  October,  and  for  inspection 
on  November  7  and  8 ;  for  Good 
Friday  and  Easter  Eve,  Ascension 
Day,  Commemoration  Day,  and 
from  Christmas  Day  to  January  I. 
*  In  1713  every  stranger  admitted  to 
read  in  the  Library  had  to  pay  nine 
shillings  in  fees.'  Macray's  Annals 
of  the  Bodleia7i,  ed.  1890,  p.  185. 
Apparently  the  fees  were  the  same 
at  the  time  of  Dr.  Bumey's  visit. 
The  Rev.  John  Price  was  Librarian 
at  this  time.  In  1787  Dr.  Beddoes, 
the  Reader  in  Chemistry,  in  a 
Memorial   to   the  Curators  charged 


him  with  *  discouraging  readers  by 
neglect  and  incivility.'  The  copy  of 
Cook's  Voyages,  which  had  been  pre- 
sented by  the  King,  he  had  lent  to 
the  Rector  of  Lincoln  College,  'telling 
him  that  the  longer  he  kept  it  the 
better,  "  for  if  it  was  known  to  be  in 
the  Library  he  should  be  perpetually 
plagued  with  enquiries  after  it." '  lb. 
p.  269.  How  much  the  Library  was 
neglected  in  those  days  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  the  present  year  (1891) 
it  possesses  for  the  first  time  a  copy 
of  Johnson's  edition  of  the  English 
Poets ;  neither  has  it  an  earlier  edition 
of  the  Lives  than  the  one  of  1805. 

Dr.  Radcliffe's  Library  was  in  a 
state  of  even  greater  neglect.  On  the 
death  of  Johnson's  friend,  Dr.  Kenni- 
cott.  Canon  of  Christ  Church  and 
Radclivian  Librarian,  a  writer  in  the 
Gentleman'' s  Magazine  for  1783  (p. 
718)  says: — '  There  are  several  chests 
of  books  unopened.  The  late  learned 
Orientalist  in  this  respect  only  trod 
in  the  steps  of  his  predecessor,  but  it 
is  high  time  a  different  track  should 
be  pursued.  If  the  librarianship 
must  be  given  to  a  person  too  old  or 
too  easy  for  the  employment,  some- 
thing decent  might  be  spared  out  of 
near  ;^4oo  a  year  to  a  young  man  of 
genius  and  learning  to  act  as  deputy, 
and  open  to  public  inspection  one  of 
the  first  collections  in  the  universe.' 

^  Miss  Buiney's  Evelina  had  been 
published  in  January   of  this  year. 

And 


78 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1778. 


And  on  the  26th  Burney  is  to  bring  me.  Pray  why  so  ?  Is  it 
not  as  fit  that  I  should  bring  Burney^?  My  master  is  in  his  old 
lunes  ^,  and  so  am  I.  Well,  I  do  not  much  care  how  it  is,  and 
yet — at  it  again. 

Pray  make  my  compliments  to  Mr.  Scrase  I  He  has  many 
things  which  I  wish  to  have,  his  knowledge  of  business  and  of 
the  law.  He  has  likewise  a  great  chair  "*.  Such  an  one  my 
Master  talked  of  getting  ;  but  that  vile  black  dog 

Mrs.  Queeney  might  write  to  me,  and  do  herself  no  harm  ;  she 
will  neglect  me  till  I  shall  take  to  Susy  '",  and  then  Queeney 
may  break  her  heart,  and  who  can  be  blamed?  I  am  sure  I 
stuck  to  Queeney  as  long  as  I  could. 

Does  not  Master  talk  how  full  his  canal  ^  will  be  when  he  comes 
home.  Now  or  never.  I  know  not  how  the  soil  was  laid  ;  if  it 
slopes  towards  the  canal,  it  may  pour  in  a  great  deal  of  water, 
but  I  suspect  it  slopes  the  wrong  way. 

This  is  but  the  fourteenth  day ;  there  are  twelve  more  to  the 
twenty-sixth.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  notching  a  stick  ?  however 
we  have  it  in  Horace — triiditiir  dies  die^ ;  as  twelve  days  have 
gone,  twelve  days  will  come. 

Hector  of  Birmingham  just  looked  in  at  me.  He  is  come  to 
his  only  niece,  who  is  ill  of  a  cancer  ;  I  believe  with  very  little 
hope,  for  it  is  knotted  in  two  places. 

I  think  at  least  I  grow  no  worse  ;  perhaps  valerian  may  make 
me  better.     Let  me  have  your  prayers. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Yours,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  37. 
Francis  was  Johnson's  black  ser- 
vant. 

'  ' See  how  touchy  was  Johnson  ! 
He  thought  himself  degraded  by  the 
phrase  Burney  shall  bring  you  here 
on  the  2.6th'     Baretti. 

^  '  Why,  woman,  your  husband  is 
in  his  old  lunes  again.'  Merry  Wives 
of  Windsor,  Act  iv.  sc.  2. 

3  Ante,  i.  395. 

*  Johnson  with  his  asthma  would 


often  find  comfort  in  a  great  chair. 

^  '  I  was  always  a  Susy  when 
nobody  else  was  a  Susy.'  Ante,  ii. 
44. 

*  Canal  was  generally  used  of  an 
ornamental  piece  of  water.  What  we 
now  call  a  canal  was  at  this  time 
often  called  a  navigation,  whence 
comes  navvy. 

'  Horace.    2  Odes  :fi\i\\.  15. 
'  Day  presses  on  the  heels  of  day.' 
Francis. 

To 


Aetat.  69.]  To  Mts.  TJirale.  79 

592. 
To  Mrs.  THRALE^ 
Dear  Madam,  Nov.  21, 1778. 

I  will  write  to  you  once  more  before  you  come  away ;  but — 
;///  mihi  rescribas  - — I  hope  soon  to  see  you.  Burney  and  I  have 
settled  it ;  and  I  will  not  take  a  post-chaise,  merely  to  shew  my 
independence. 

Now  the  dog  is  drowned  ^,  I  shall  see  both  you  and  my  m.aster 
just  as  you  are  used  to  be,  and  with  your  being  as  you  have 
been,  your  friends  may  very  reasonably  be  satisfied. — Only,  be 
better  if  you  can. 

Return  my  thanks,  if  you  please,  to  Oueeney  for  her  letter.  I 
do  not  yet  design  to  leave  her  for  Susy ;  but  how  near  is  the 
time  when  she  will  leave  me,  and  leave  me  to  Susy,  or  any  body 
else  that  will  pick  me  up. 

Currit  enim  ferox 

.^tas,  et  ilH,  quos  tibi  demserit, 
Apponet  annos. '^ 

Oueeney,  whom  you  watched  while  I  held  her,  will  soon  think 
our  care  of  her  very  superfluous. 

Miss  Biron,  and,  I  suppose,  Mrs.  Biron,  is  gone  '".  You  are  by 
this  time  left  alone  to  wander  over  the  Steine  ^,  and  listen  to  the 
waves,— This  is  but  a  dull  life.  Come  away  and  be  busy,  and 
count  your  poultry,  and  look  into  your  dairy,  and  at  leisure 
hours  learn  what  revolutions  have  happened  at  Streatham. 

I  believe  I  told  you  that  Jack  Desmoulines  is  rated  upon  the 
book  at  Drury-lane  five-and-twenty  shillings  a-week. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  40.  was  the  wife  of  Admiral  Byron  and 

^  '  Nil    mihi    rescribas ;     attamen  grandmother    of    the    poet.       ]\Iiss 

ipse  veni.'  Byron    was   her   daughter  Augusta. 

Ovid.     Heroides,  i.  2.  See  ]\Ime.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  331, 

^  Ante,  ii.  y^)^  ?i.  5.  383,  dind.  post,  Letters  of  November  4, 

''  Horace.     2  Odes,  v.  13.  I779>  and  November  12,  1781. 

'Time  to  her  shall  count  each  "  Mrs. Thrale\\Titingfrom Brighton 

day  on  July  19,  1780,  says  : — '  My  master 

Which  from  you  it  takes  away.'  is   gone   out  riding,  and  we  are  to 

Francis.  drink  tea  with  Lady  Rothes  ;    after 

^  In   the   Letter  of  November  2,  which  the  Steyne  hours  begin,  and 

1779,  Johnson  correctly  writes  these  we   cluster   round   Thomas's    shop.' 

ladies'   name   Byron.      Mrs.    Byron  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Dia7y,  i.  417. 

Baretti 


8o                               To  John  Nichols.                      [a.d.  1778. 
Baretti  has  told  his  musical  scheme  to   B '.  and  B 


will  neither  grant  the  question  nor  deny.  He  is  of  opinion,  that 
if  it  does  not  fail  it  will  succeed,  but  if  it  does  not  succeed  he 
conceives  it  must  fail. 

It  is  good  to  speak  dubiously  about  futurity.  It  is  likewise 
not  amiss  to  hope. 

Did  I  ever  tell  you  that  *  *  *  *  was  married  ?  It  so  fell  out, 
that  *  *  *  *  fell  in  love  with  a  girl  whose  fortune  was  so  small 
that  he  perhaps  could  not  mention  it  to  his  father ;  but  it 
happened  likewise,  by  the  lottery  of  love,  that  the  father  liked 
her  so  well,  as  himself  to  recommend  her  to  »  *  *  * .  Such 
coincidence  is  rare. 

Come  now,  do  come  home  as  fast  as  you  can : 

Come  with  a  whoop,  come  with  a  call, 
Come  with  a  good  will,  or  come  not  at  all. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

593. 

To  James  Boswell, 
[London],  November  21,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  368. 

594. 

To  John  Nichols  ^ 

Mr.  Johnson  will  hope  for  Mr.  Nichols'  company  to  tea  about 
six  this  afternoon,  to  talk  of  the  index,  and  settle  the  terms. 
Monday. 

'  '  Burney.     The  musical  scheme  lick  entertainment  in  London,  for  the 

was    the     Carmen     Sectdare,     that  joint   benefit   of    Monsieur  Philidor 

brought   me   ^150  in  three   nights,  and  Signor  Baretti.'     Life,   iii.  373. 

and  three  times  as  much  to  Philidor,  Philidor   was    famous    as   a   chess- 

whom  I  got  to  set  it  to  music.     It  player.      He    came    to   England    in 

would    have    benefited    us    both,    if  1771    with    an    introduction    to    Dr. 

Philidor  had  not  proved  a  scoundrel,  Burney  from    Diderot.     The  Early 

greatly    more     than     those     sums.'  Diary  of  Frances  Burney,  \.  wd. 

Baretti.     '  The    Carmen   Secidare  "  First   published   in    the   Gentle- 

of  Horace  had  this  year  been  set  to  inan's  Magazine  for  1785,  p.  9. 
musick,  and   performed  as   a  pub- 

To 


Aetat.  69.]    To  the  Honourable  Tho^ias  Fitzmaurice.        8 1 


Sir, 


595. 


To  John  Nichols  '. 


I  am  very  well  contented  that  the   Index  is  settled,  for 
though  the  price  is  low,  it  is  not  penurious. 

Mr.  Macbean  having  been  for  some  time  out  of  business,  is  in 
some  little  perplexities  from  which  twelve  guineas  will  set  him 
free.  This,  we  hope,  you  will  advance,  and  during  the  continuance 
of  the  work  subject  to  your  inspection  he  desires  a  weekly  pay- 
ment of  sixteen  shillings,  the  rest  to  remain  till  it  is  completed. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Nov.  26,  1778. 


Sir, 


596. 


To  THE  Honourable  Thomas  Fitzmaurice  ^ 


Good  wishes  are  the  necessary  consequence  of  friendship, 
and  of  my  good  wishes,  I  hope,  you  make  no  doubt.     But  now 


'  First  published  in  the  Gentle- 
mmi's  Magazine  for  1785,  part  i. 
page  9. 

Macbean  made  a  useful  Index  to 
the  English  Poets,  giving  what  he 
calls  '  a  synoptical  view  of  them  '  in 
several  particulars.  It  fills  the  last 
two  volumes  of  the  Collection.  In 
the  Preface  to  the  Index  in  the  edition 
of  1790  it  is  stated  that  the  original 
plan  had  received  Johnson's  sanction. 
For  Macbean  see  a7ite,  i.  319. 

-  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Reverend  Canon  Moor, 
St.  Clement's  near  Truro. 

There  is  no  address  to  this  Letter ; 
I  have  however  no  doubt  that  it  was 
written  to  the  Hon.  Thomas  Fitzmau- 
rice, the  younger  brother  of  the  Earl 
ofShelburne.  On  December2i,  1777, 
he  had  married  Mary,  afterwards 
Countess  of  Orkney  in  her  own  right ; 

VOL.  II.  G 


their  only  son  was  born  on  October 
2,  1778,  Attn.  Reg.,  1778,  i.  218, 
and  Burke's  Peerage  under  Lans- 
DOWNE  and  Orkney.  Lady  Shel- 
burne  was  the  Dowager  Lady,  who 
died  in  December,  1780.  Horace 
Walpole  writes  : — '  How  has  she  left 
her  fortune,  once  so  great,  but  which 
with  superabundant  cunning  she  had 
rendered  almost  as  crazy  as  she  was 
latterly  .' '  Letters,  vii.  475.  The  first 
wife  of  the  Earl  had  died  on  January 
5,  1 771,  he  married  his  second  wife 
in  1779.  Gentleman' s Magazine,\']']\, 
p.  47,  and  Burke's  Peerage.  Fitz- 
maurice was  living  in  Lleweney  Hall, 
which,  according  to  Mrs.  Piozzi,  '  had 
been  in  possession  of  the  Salusburys 
a  thousand  years.'  ZzJ/^,  v.  435.  He 
invited  Johnson  to  pass  part  of  the 
summer  of  1780  with  him  there.  Post, 
Letter  of  May  7,  1780. 

you 


^' 


82  To  Mrs.  Aston.  [A.D.1778. 

you  have  a  son  I  know  not  well  what  more  to  wish  you  except 
more  sons,  and  a  few  daughters  ;  the  sons  to  be  all  brave  and 
the  daughters  all  beautiful,  and  both  sons  and  daughters  to  be 
wise  and  good. 

Now  you  have  a  son  what  can  you  want  ?  You  have  a  mother 
to  rejoice  in  her  grandson,  and  a  Lady  to  partake  in  all  your 
felicities.  With  Lady  Shelburn  I  once  had  the  honour  of  con- 
versing, and  entreat  you,  Sir,  to  let  her  know  that  I  have  not 
forgotten  it ;  to  your  Lady  I  am  a  stranger,  but  who  can  doubt 
the  excellence  of  her,  who  \sic\  you  have  chosen,  and  who  has 
chosen  you  ? 

If  encrease  of  happiness  cannot  be  expected  it  still  remains  to 
wish  the  continuance,  and  very  long  it  will  continue,  if  there  be 
any  power  in  the  desires  of, 

Sir, 
Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson, 

Dec.  7,  1778. 

597. 
To  John  Nichols. 
[London],  December,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  36,  n.  4. 

598. 

To  THE  Reverend  John  Hussey. 
[London],  December  29,  1778.     Published  in  the  Life^  iii.  369. 

599. 

_  To  Mrs.  Aston  \ 

Dear  Madam, 

Now  the  new  year  is  come  of  which  I  wish  you  and  dear 

Mrs.  Gastrel  many  and  many  returns,  it  is  fit  that  I  give  you 

some  account  of  the  year  past.     In  the  beginning  of  it  I  had 

difficulty  of  breathing,  and  other  ilness  \sic\  from  which  however 

I  by  degrees  recovered  and  from  which  I  am  now  tolerably  free. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  I  flattered  myself  that  I  should  come 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-      from  the  original  in  Pembroke  Col- 
well,  page  622.      Corrected  by  me      lege  Library. 

to 


Aetat.  69.]  To  Mts.  Povter.  83 

to  Lichfield,  and  forebore  to  write  till  I  could  tell  of  my  inten- 
tions with  some  certainty,  and,  one  thing  or  other  making  the 
journey  always  improper,  as  I  did  not  come,  I  omitted  to  write, 
till  at  last  I  grew  afraid  of  hearing  ill  news.  But  the  other  day 
Mr.  Prujean '  called^  and  left  word  that  you,  dear  Madam,  are 
grown  better,  I  know  not  when  I  heard  any  thing  that  pleased 
me  so  much.  I  shall  now  long  more  and  more  to  see  Lichfield, 
and  partake  the  happiness  of  your  recovery. 

Now  you  begin  to  mend,  you  have  great  encouragement  to 
take  care  of  yourself,  do  not  omit  any  thing  that  can  conduce  to 
your  health,  and  when  I  come  I  shall  hope  to  enjoy  with  you  and 
dearest  Mrs.  Gastrel  many  pleasing  hours.  Do  not  be  angry  at 
my  long  omission  to  write,  but  let  me  hear  how  you  both  do,  for 
you  will  write  to  nobody  to  whom  your  welfare  will  give  more 
pleasure  than  to, 

Dearest  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  Bolt-court,  Fleet-street. 
Jan.  2,  1779. 

600. 

To  Mrs.  Porter  ^ 

Dearest  Love,  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  street,  Jan.  2,  1779. 

Though  I  have  so  long  omitted  to  write,  I  will  omit  it  no 
longer.  I  hope  the  new  year  finds  you  not  worse  than  you  have 
formerly  been  ;  and  I  wish  that  many  years  may  pass  over  you 
without  bringing  either  pain  or  discontent.  For  my  part,  I  think 
my  health,  though  not  good,  yet  rather  better  than  when  I  left  you. 

My  purpose  was  to  have  paid  you  my  annual  visit  in  the 
summer,  but  it  happened  otherwise,  not  by  any  journey  another 
way,  for  I  have  never  been  many  miles  from  London,  but  by  such 
hindrances  as  it  is  hard  to  bring  to  any  account. 

Do  not  follow  my  bad  example,  but  write  to  me  soon  again, 
and  let  me  know  of  you  what  you  have  to  tell ;  I  hope  it  is  all 
good. 

'  '  He  married  the  youngest  of  the  "^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 

Misses  Aston,'     Croker.  tuell,  page  622. 

G  2  Please 


84 


To  Miss  Reyjiolds. 


[A.D.  1779. 


Please  to  make  my  compliments  to  Mrs.  Cobb,  Mrs.  Adey, 
and  Miss  Adey,  and  all  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  that  frequent 
your  mansion. 

If  you  want  any  books,  or  any  thing  else  that  I  can  send  you, 

let  me  know. 

I  am.  dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

601. 

To  Mrs.  Garrick  \ 

Dr.  Johnson  sends  most  respectful  condolence  to  Mrs.  Garrick, 
and  wishes  that  any  endeavour  of  his  could  enable  her  \sic\ 
support  a  loss  which  the  world  cannot  repair. 

Feb.  2,  1779. 

602. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^. 
Dearest  Madam,  [Streatham],  Feb.  15, 1779. 

I  have  never  deserved  to  be  treated  as  you  treat  me.    When 


'  From  the  original  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Edward  Ford,  Old 
Park,  Enfield.  Garrick  died  on 
January  20.  Johnson's  note  was 
written  the  day  after  the  funeral. 
'  I  saw,'  writes  Cumberland,  '  old 
Samuel  Johnson  standing  beside 
Garrick's  grave,  at  the  foot  of  Shake- 
speare's monument,  and  bathed  in 
tears.'  Cumberland's  Memoirs,  ii. 
210.  'Garrick's  widow  is  buried  in 
the  same  grave.  She  survived  him 
forty-three  years — "a  little  bowed- 
down  old  woman,  who  went  about 
leaning  on  a  gold-headed  cane, 
dressed  in  deep  widow's  mourning, 
and  always  talking  of  her  dear 
Davy."  {Pe?i  attd  hik  Sketches, 
1864).'  Stanley's  Westminster  Abbey, 
ed.  1868,  p.  305. 

Captain  Alfred  C.  Christopher  of 
the  Seaforth  Highlanders  has  given 
me  the  following  note  made  by  his 


ancestor.  Sir  Henry  Wilmot  Seton, 
who  died  in  1848.  '  I  saw  Mrs.  Gar- 
rick on  her  ninetieth  birthday,  and 
by  her  express  permission  kissed 
her.  Her  words,  pronounced  with 
all  the  grace  and  dignity  of  a  Royal 
Command,  were  "  Kiss  me." ' 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  623. 

This  letter  probably  refers  to  that 
'  small  degree  of  coolness '  which  for 
some  time  existed  between  Miss 
Reynolds  and  her  brother.  *  Dr. 
Johnson,'  says  Northcote,  '  partici- 
pated with  her  in  her  troubles,  and 
offered  to  write  a  letter  himself, 
which  when  copied  should  pass  as 
her  own.  It  began  thus: — "I  am 
well  aware  that  complaints  are 
always  odious,  but  complain  I  must." 
She  saw  that  the  intended  deception 
would  no  more  have  passed  with  Sir 
Joshua  than  if  Johnson  had  attired 

you 


Aetat.  69.] 


To  Mrs.  Aston. 


85 


you  employed  me  before,  I  undertook  your  affair  and  succeeded, 

but  then  I  succeeded  by  choosing  a  proper  time,  and  a  proper 

time  I  will  try  to  choose  again. 

I  have  about  a  week's  work  to  do,  and  then  I  shall  come  to 

live  in  town,  and  will  first  wait  on  you  in  Dover-street  ^     You 

are  not  to  think  that  I  neglect  you,  for  your  nieces  ^  will  tell  you 

how  rarely  they  have  seen  me.     I  will  wait  on  you  as  soon  as 

I  can,   and   yet  you   must   resolve  to  talk  things  over  without 

anger,  and  you  must  leave  me  to  catch  opportunities ;  and  be 

assured,  dearest  dear,  that  I  should  have  very  little  enjoyment  of 

that  day  in  which  I  had  neglected   any  opportunity  of  doing 

good  to  you. 

I  am,  dearest  Madam, 

Your  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

603. 

To  John  Nichols. 

[London],  March  i,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  36,  n.  4. 


604. 

To  Mrs.  Aston  ^. 
Dear  Madam, 

Mrs.  Gastrell  and  You  are  very  often  in  my  thoughts,  though 


himself  in  her  cap  and  gown,  and 
endeavoured  to  impose  his  identical 
person  upon  him  as  his  sister.' 
Northcote's  Reynolds,  i.  203.  Rey- 
nolds had  had  built  for  himself  'a 
chariot,  on  the  panels  of  which  were 
painted  the  seasons  of  the  year  in 
allegorical  figures.  The  wheels  were 
ornamented  with  carved  foliage  and 
gilding.  He  insisted  on  it  that  his 
sister  should  go  out  with  it  as  much 
as  possible,  and  let  it  be  seen  in  the 
streets  to  make  a  show,  which  she 
was  much  averse  to,  being  a  person 
of  great  shyness  of  disposition.  This 
anecdote,  Northcote  says,  'he  had 
from  her  own  mouth.'  Leslie  and 
Taylor's  Reynolds,  i.  183.     See  also 


ib.  p.  91,  «.  2,  and  Memoirs  of  Dr. 
Burney,  i.  331. 

'  Miss  Reynolds  lodged  in  the 
house  of  Hoole,  the  translator  of 
Ariosto.  Taylor's  Reynolds,  i.  91,  n. 
2.    Perhaps  he  lived  in  Dover  Street. 

^  '  Sir  Joshua's  nieces,  the  Miss 
Palmers,  the  elder  afterwards  Mar- 
chioness of  Thomond,  the  younger 
Mrs.  Gwatkin,  lived  with  him  oc- 
casionally, and  one  of  them  after- 
wards habitually.'  Menioirs  of  Dr. 
Burney,  i.  332. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bcs- 
ivell,  page  623.  Corrected  by  me 
from  the  original  in  Pembroke  Col- 
lege Library. 

I  do 


86 


To  Mrs.  Porter. 


[A.D.  1779. 


I  do  not  write  so  often  as  might  be  expected  from  so  much  love 
and  so  much  respect.  I  please  myself  with  thinking  that  I  shall 
see  you  again,  and  shall  find  you  better.  But  futurity  is  uncer- 
tain, poor  David  ^  had  doubtless  many  futurities  in  his  head, 
which  death  has  intercepted,  a  death,  I  believe,  totally  unex- 
pected ;  he  did  not  in  his  last  hour  seem  to  think  his  Life  in 
danger. 

My  old  complaints  hang  heavy  on  me,  and  my  nights  are  very 
uncomfortable  and  unquiet ;  and  sleepless  nights  make  heavy 
days.  I  think  to  go  to  my  Physician,  and  try  what  can  be  done. 
For  why  should  not  I  grow  better  as  well  as  you  ? 

Now  you  are  better,  pray,  dearest  Madam,  take  care  of  your- 
self. I  hope  to  come  this  Summer  and  watch  you.  It  will  be 
a  very  pleasant  journey  if  I  can  find  you  and  dear  Mrs,  Gastrel 
well.  I  sent  you  two  barels  \sic\  of  oysters.  If  you  would  wish 
for  more,  please  to  send  your  commands  to, 

Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Bolt-court,  March  4,  1779.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

605. 

To  Mrs.  Porter  ^ 

My  dear  Love,  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  March  4,  1779. 

Since  I  heard  from  you,  I  sent  you  a  little  print,  and  two 

barrels  of  oysters,  and  I  shall  have  some  little  books  to  send  you 

soon  ^.    I  have  seen  Mr.  Pearson  "*,  and  am  pleased  to  find  that  he 

has  got  a  living.     I  was  hurried  when  he  was  with  me,  but  had 

time  to  hear  that  my  friends  were  all  well. 


'  David  Garrick.  '  He  had,'  writes 
Davies,  '  so  little  apprehension  of 
death  being  so  near  that,  I  am  well 
informed,  he  said  to  the  servant  who 
gave  him  a  draught  a  day  or  two 
before  he  died,  "  Well,  Tom,  I  shall 
do  very  well  yet,  and  make  you 
amends  for  all  this  trouble." '  Davies's 
Life  of  Garrick,  ii.  353. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  623. 

^  No  doubt  the  first  four  volumes 


of  the  Lives  of  the  Poets  which  were 
published  this  spring. 

■*  The  Rev.  John  B.  Pearson  was 
Perpetual  Curate  of  St.  Michael's 
Church  from  1774  to  1782.  Har- 
wood's  Lichfield,  p.  517.  He  must 
have  received  this  year  some  other 
preferment.  He  was  Lucy  Porter's 
legatee.  From  his  widow  Mr.  Croker 
received  copies  of  many  of  Johnson's 
letters  to  his  step-daughter.  Croker's 
Boswell,  Preface,  p.  xiv. 

Poor 


Aetat.  69.] 


To  Mrs.    Thrale. 


87 


Poor  Mrs.  Adey '  was,  I  think,  a  good  woman,  and  therefore 
her  death  is  less  to  be  lamented ;  but  it  is  not  pleasant  to  think 
how  uncertain  it  is,  that,  when  friends  part,  they  will  ever  meet 
again.  My  old  complaint  of  flatulence,  and  tight  and  short 
breath,  oppress  me  heavily.  My  nights  are  very  restless.  I  think 
of  consulting  the  doctor  to-morrow. 

This  has  been  a  mild  winter,  for  which  I  hope  you  have  been 
the  better.  Take  what  care  you  can  of  yourself,  and  do  not 
forget  to  drink  ^  I  was  somehow  or  other  hindered  from  coming 
into  the  country  last  summer,  but  I  think  of  coming  this  year. 

I  am,  dear  love, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

606. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  3. 

[Bolt  Court],  March  10,  1779. 

And  so,  dear  Madam,  it  is  a  mumm ""  to  see  who  will  speak 
first.  I  will  come  to  see  you  on  Saturday,  only  let  me  know 
whether  I  must  come  to  the  Borough,  or  am  to  be  taken  up 
here. 

Baretti's  golden  dream  is  now  but  silver.  He  is  of  my  mind  ; 
he  says,  there  is  no  money  for  diversions  ^  But  we  make  another 
onset  on  Friday,  and  this  is  to  be  the  last  time  this  season. 

I  got  my  Lives,  not  yet  quite  printed,  put  neatly  together, 
and  sent  them  to  the  King ;  what  he  says  of  them  I  know  not. 
If  the  King  is  a  Whig,  he  will  not  like  them  ;  but  is  any  king 
aWhig^? 


'  Ante,  i.  139. 

*  Ante,  i.  368,  n.  i. 

^  Pio22i  Letters,  ii.  42. 

"*  This,  Hke  '  a  humm '  of  ante, 
ii.  75,  is  '  a  cant  word  '  not  in  John- 
son's Dictionary. 

^  See  afite,  ii.  80,  ?i.  i.  There 
was  great  distress  owing  to  the 
heavy  taxation  caused  by  the  Ameri- 
can War.  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on 
February  25  : — '  It  was  but  yester- 
day Lord  North  could  tell  the  House 


he  had  got  the  money  on  the  loan, 
and  is  happy  to  get  it  under  eight 
per  cent.'     Letters,  vii.  181. 

^  It  was  the  first  four  of  the  ten 
volumes  which  Johnson  sent  to  the 
King.  Horace  Walpole  says  that 
four  years  earlier  George  III  'had 
sent  for  Johnson's  Journey  to  the 
Western  IslaJids  in  MS.,  and  then 
wondering  said,  "  I  protest,  Johnson 
seems  to  be  a  Papist  and  a  Jaco- 
bite !  "  '     Letters,  vi.  1 79. 

So 


8S 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1779. 


So  far  had  I  gone,  when  in  came  Mr.  Thrale,  who  will  have  the 

honour  of  bringing  it. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

607. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  March  13,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  372. 


608. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dear  Madam,  March  18, 1779. 

There  is  some  comfort  in  writing,  when  such  praise  is  to  be 

had.     Plato  is  a  multitude^. 

On  Monday  I  came  late  to  Mrs.  Vesey^     Mrs.  Montague  was 

there ;  I  called  for  the  print  '^,  and  got  good  words.     The  evening 

was  not  brilliant,  but  I  had  thanks  for  my  company.     The  night 

was  troublesome.    On  Tuesday  I  fasted,  and  went  to  the  Doctor ; 

he  ordered  bleeding.     On  Wednesday  I  had  the  teapot,  fasted, 

and  was  blooded.    Wednesday  night  was  better.    To-day  I  have 

dined  at  Mr.  Strahan's  at  Islington  ^,  with  his  new  wife.    To-night 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  43. 

=  Ante,  i.  374. 

^  Hannah  More,  in  1783  (.M>;/Z(2'/>j', 
i.  286),  describes  '  Mrs.  Vesey's  plea- 
sant parties.  It  is  a  select  society 
which  meets  at  her  house  every  other 
Tuesday,  on  the  day  on  which  the 
Turk's  Head  Club  dine  together.  In 
the  evening  they  all  meet  at  Mrs. 
Vesey's,  with  the  addition  of  such 
other  company  as  it  is  difficult  to  find 
elsewhere.'  Miss  More  addressed  to 
her  The  Bus  Bleu  which  begins  : — 

*  Vesey  !  of  verse  the  judge  and 
friend, 
Awhile  my  idle  strain  attend.' 
See  Life,  iii.  424,  for  an  account  of 
the  brilliant  company  which  one 
evening  at  her  house  gathered  four 
or  five  deep  round  Johnson's  chair. 


''  Ante,  ii.  70. 

^  The  Rev.  George  Strahan,  Vicar 
of  Islington  {ante,  i.  95).    '  His  house 
afforded  Johnson  an  agreeable  change 
of  place  and  fresh  air.'     Life,  iv.  416. 
Lamb,  in  a  Sonnet  written  seventeen 
years  later,  says  : — 
'  I  turn  my  back  on  thy  detested 
walls, 
Proud  City,  and  thy  sons  I  leave 
behind. 

I  pass  not  thee  so  lightly,  humble 
spire, 

That  mindest  me  of  many  a  plea- 
sure gone, 

Of    merriest    days,    of    Love   and 
Islington, 

Kindling  anew  the  flames  of  past 
desire  ; 

there 


Aetat.  69.] 


To  Tho7nas  Cadell. 


89 


there  will  be  opium.  To-morrow  the  teapot.  Then  heigh  for 
Saturday.  1  wish  the  Doctor  would  bleed  me  again.  Yet  every 
body  that  I  meet  says  that  I  look  better  than  when  I  was  last 
met. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

609. 


Sir, 


To  Thomas  Cadell'. 


The  Duty  of  Man  is  not  the  right.  Nelson  is  bound  in 
Sheepskin,  a  thing  I  never  saw  before.  I  was  bred  a  Bookseller, 
and  have  not  forgotten  my  trade  ^. 

Do  not  let  us  teize  one  another  about  books.  That  they  are 
lent  about  I  suppose  is  true,  but  it  must  be  principally  by  those 
that  have  bought  them,  which  would  have  been  done  much  less, 
if  you  had  united  every  writer's  life  to  his  works,  for  then  the 
borrower  might  have  carried  away  near  twenty  volumes,  whereas 
he  now  takes  but  four.  I  will  venture  to  say  that  of  those  which 
I  have  given  very  few  are  lent.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  you  must 
supply  me  with  what  I  think  it  proper  to  distribute  among  my 
friends  ^. 


And   I   shall  muse  on  thee,  slow 
journeying  on, 

To  the   green  plains  of  pleasant 

Hertfordshire.' 
Ainger's  Letters  of  Charles  Lamb, 
i.  4.     See  also  ib.  ii.  82. 

The  Old  Vicarage  was  pulled 
down  about  1885  ;  its  site  is  occupied 
by  the  premises  of  the  Metropolitan 
Fire  Brigade.  The  Academy,  Jan. 
5,  1889,  p.  2. 

'  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Messrs.  Puttick  and  Simpson, 
47  Leicester  Square,  London. 

For  Thomas  Cadell  see  aiite,  ii.  61, 
n.  I,  and  Life,  ii.  425,  n.  2. 

^  '  Nelson '  is  no  doubt  Robert 
Nelson's  Festivals  and  Fasts. 
Johnson,  in  the  two  years  which  he 
spent  at  home  after  he  left  school 


and  before  he  went  to  Oxford,  was 
partly  employed  in  his  father's  shop. 
'  I  have  heard  him  say,'  writes  Haw- 
kins, '  that  he  was  able  to  bind  a 
book.'  Life,  i.  56,  n.  2.  It  was  said 
in  1819  that 'books  of  his  binding 
are  still  extant  in  Lichfield.'  Murray's 
Johnsotiiana,  p.  465. 

^  Cadell,  it  seems,  had  complained 
that  the  copies  of  the  first  four 
volumes  of  the  Lives  of  the  Poets 
which  Johnson  had  given  to  his 
friends  had  been  lent  about,  and  so 
the  sale  had  been  hindered.  John- 
son replies,  'had  you  not  printed  the 
Lives  separately  the  borrowers — who 
borrowed  mostly  from  those  who 
bought  the  books — must  have  carried 
away  near  twenty  volumes.  This 
would     have     rendered     borrowing 

Let 


90  To  Mrs.  Aston.  [a.d.  1779. 

Let  me  have  no  dispute  about  it.     I  think  myself  not  well 

used. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

April  3,  1779. 
To  Mr.  Cadel. 

610. 

To  James  Boswell. 

Harley  Street,  [April  26,  1779].     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  391. 

611. 

To  John  Nichols. 

[London],  May  2,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  36,  n.  4. 
The  date  of  this  Letter,  in  which  Johnson  mentions  Hughes's  Letters, 
is  in  the  original,  but  not  in  Boswell. 

612. 

To  THE  Reverend  John  Wesley. 
[London],  May  3,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  394. 


613. 

To  Mrs.  Aston  '. 
Dear  Madam,  May  4, 1779. 

When  I  sent  you  the  little  books  ^,  I  was  not  sure  that  you 

were  well  enough  to  take  the  trouble  of  reading  them,  but  have 

lately  heard  from  Mr.  Greeves  that  you  are   much   recovered. 

I  hope  you  will  gain  more  and  more  strength,  and  live  many  and 

many  years,  and  I  shall  come  again  to   Stowhill,  and  live  as 

I  used  to  do,  with  you  and  dear  Mrs.  Gastrell. 

much    more    inconvenient.'       Con-  well,   page  631,  where  it   is    stated 

sidering  'his  extraordinary  modera-  that   the   original    is    in    Pembroke 

tion '  in  the  payment  which  he  had  College.       Probably    the    statement 

demanded     for    writing    the    Lives  was   incorrect  ;     at    all    events    the 

{Life,  iii.  ill,  n.  i),  this  complaint  of  Letter  is  not  there  now, 

Cadell's  is  pitiful.  -  No  doubt  the  first  four  volumes 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-  of  the  Lives. 

I  am 


Aetat.  69.] 


To  Mrs.    Tkrale. 


91 


I  am  not  well :  my  nights  are  very  troublesome,  and  my 
breath  is  short ;  but  I  know  not  that  it  grows  much  worse. 
I  wish  to  see  you.  Mrs.  Harvey '  has  just  sent  to  me  to  dine 
with  her,  and  I  have  promised  to  wait  on  her  to-morrow. 

Mr.  Green  comes  home  loaded  with  curiosities  ^  and  will  be 
able  to  give  his  friends  new  entertainment.  When  I  come,  it  will 
be  great  entertainment  to  me  if  I  can  find  you  and  Mrs.  Gastrell 
well,  and  willing  to  receive  me. 

I  am, 

Dearest  Madam,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson, 

614. 

To  Mrs.  Porter. 
[London],  May  4,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  393. 


Dear  Madam. 


615. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^. 


May  20,  1779. 


The  vicissitudes  of  things,  and  the  eddies  of  life,  are  now 
carrying  you  southward,  and  me  northward'*.  When  shall  we 
meet  again  ? 

I  must  beg  of  you  to  send  Mr.  Watson's  papers  to  my  house, 
directed  for  him,  and  sealed  up.  I  know  not  whether  he  does 
not  think  himself  in  danger  of  piracy  ^ 

Take  care  that  Susy  sees  all  that  Sophy  has  seen,  that  she  may 
tell  her  travels,  and  give  them  a  taste  of  the  world.     And  take 


'Most  likely  Mrs.  Hervey,  Mrs. 
Aston's  sister.     Ante,  i.  182. 

-  For  his  Museum  at  Lichfield. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  44. 

*  He  was  going  to  Lichfield  and 
Ashbourne,  she  to  Brighton.  Miss 
Burney  wrote  from  that  town  on  May 
26:— 'Mr.,  Mrs.,  Miss  Thrale,  and 
Miss  Susan  Thrale  and  I  travelled 
in  a  coach  with  four  horses,  and 
two  of  the  servants  in  a  chaise,  be- 
sides two  men  on  horseback.      Mr. 


Thrale's  house  is  in  West  Street, 
which  is  the  Court  end  of  the  town.' 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  209. 

^  Mr.  Watson  was  probably  Pro- 
fessor Watson  of  Aberdeen,  whose 
History  of  Philip  II  Johnson  had 
offered  to  revise.  Ante,  i.  412, 
The  last  volume  was  published  this 
year.  The  piracy  which  was  feared 
was,  I  suppose,  that  of  piratical  pub- 
lishers, such  as  those  of  Dublin. 


care. 


92  To  Mi's.  TJirale.  [a.d.  1779. 

care,  and  write  to  me  very  often,  till  we  meet  again ;  and  keep 

Master  in  good  thoughts  of  me. Vale. 

Sam:  Johnson. 

616. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 

Madam,  *    Lichfield,  May  29,  1779. 

I  have  now  been  here  a  week^  and  will  try  to  give  you  my 
journal,  or  such  parts  of  it  as  are  fit  in  my  mind  for  com- 
munication. 

On  Friday. — We  set  out  about  twelve,  and  lay  at  Daventry^. 

On  Saturday. — We  dined  with  Mr.  Rann  at  Coventry.  He 
intercepted  us  at  the  town's  end.  I  saw  Tom  Johnson^,  who  had 
hardly  life  to  know  that  I  was  with  him.  I  hear  he  is  since 
dead.  In  the  evening  I  came  to  Lucy,  and  walked  to  Stowhill ; 
Mrs.  Aston  was  gone  or  going  to  bed  ;  I  did  not  see  her. 

Sunday. — After  dinner  I  went  to  Stowhill,  and  was  very 
kindly  received.  At  night  I  saw  my  old  friend  Brodhurst '' — you 
know  him — the  play-fellow  of  my  infancy,  and  gave  him  a 
guinea. 

Monday. — Dr.  Taylor  came,  and  we  went  with  Mrs.  Cobb  to 
Greenhill  Bower.  I  had  not  seen  it  perhaps  for  fifty  years.  It 
is  much  degenerated  ^.  Every  thing  grows  old.  Taylor  is  to 
fetch  me  next  Saturday. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  45.  ^  '  A  Court  is  held  by  the  Bailiffs 
^  Seventy-two  miles  from  London.  on  Whit  Monday  in  the  Guild  Hall, 
Falstaff  with  his  soldiers  had  taken  which  is  immediately  adjourned  to 
the  same  road,  when  the  one  shirt  in  an    open    mount  called    Green    Hill 
all   his    company  was  '  stolen   from  (at  which  time  also  a  Court  Leet  is 
my   host    at    Saint    Alban's,    or   the  held),  when    the   names    of  all   the 
red-nose     innkeeper    of    Daventry.'  householders     of     the     twenty-one 
I  Henry  IV,  Act  iv,  sc.  2.    He  would  wards  of  the  City  are  called  over,  as 
not   go   with    his  men    the  rest    of  owing  suit  and  service  to  this  Court, 
the  road.     '  I'll  not  march  through  It  was  anciently  called  The  Court  of 
Coventry  with    them,    that 's     flat.'  Array,  or  View  of  Men  and  Arms. 
Coventry  was  19  miles  from  Daven-  Processions  are  made  by  the  Con- 
try,  and  Lichfield    25??    miles   from  stables  and  Dozeners   {ante,   i.   162, 
Coventry.  n.   3]  of  each  ward,  who  anciently 
'  Ante,  i.  154.  bore  tutelary  saints,  but  which  are 
*  I  find  no  other  mention  of  him.  now  converted  into  garlands  or  em- 
Mr.  Green 


Aetat.  69.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


Mr.  Green  came  to  see  us.  and  I  ordered  some  physick. 

Tuesday. — Physick,  and  a  little  company.  I  dined,  I  think, 
with  Lucy  both  Monday  and  Tuesday. 

Wednesday,  "i    I  had  a  few  visits,  from  Peter  Garrick  ^  among 

Thursday.  )  the  rest,  and  dined  at  Stowhill.  My  breath 
very  short. 

Friday. — I  dined  at  Stowhill.  I  have  taken  physick  four  days 
together. 

Saturday. — Mrs.  Aston  took  me  out  in  her  chaise,  and  was 
very  kind.  I  dined  with  Mrs.  Cobb,  and  came  to  Lucy,  with 
whom  I  found,  as  I  had  done  the  first  day,  Lady  Smith  and  Miss 
Vyse  ^. 

This  is  the  course  of  my  life.  You  do  not  think  it  much 
makes  me  forget  Streatham.  However  it  is  good  to  wander 
a  little,  lest  one  should  dream  that  all  the  world  was  Streatham, 
of  which  one  may  venture  to  say,  none  but  itself  can  be  itsparalleP. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

617. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale '^. 
Dear   Madam,  Ashbourne,  June  14,  1779. 

Your  account  of  Mr.  Thrale's  illness  is  very  terrible  ;  but  when 


blems  of  their  trade.  They  are 
attended  by  Morice  dancers,  who 
dance  sarabands  &c.,  in  imitation  of 
the  Moors,  and  on  the  following  day 
beg  for  money.  During  the  day  the 
inhabitants  of  the  wards  are  regaled 
with  cold  meat,  cake  and  wine  at  the 
expense  of  the  Corporation.'  Har- 
wood's  History  of  Lichfield,  p.  352. 

'  Ante,  i.  4,  n.  5. 

^  Lady  Smith  is  mentioned,  ante, 
i.  329,  and  Miss  Vyse,  attte,  i.  334. 

^  'None  but  thyself  can  be  thy 
parallel '  is  from  Theobald's  Double 
FalseJiood.  Pope  calls  it  '  a  marvel- 
lous line,'  and  thus  introduces  it  in 
Tlie  Dunciad,  first  edition,  iii.  271 : — 

'  For  works  like  these  let  deathless 
Journals  tell, 


"  None  but  thyself  can  be  thy 
parallel."  ' 
In  Martinns  Scriblerus,  ch.  vii,  it  is 
suggested  that  '  it  is  borrowed  from 
the  thought  of  that  master  of  a  show 
in  Smithfield,  who  writ  in  large 
letters  over  the  picture  of  his  ele- 
phant :  — "  This  is  the  greatest 
Elephant  in  the  world  except  Him- 
self." '  Warton  says  in  a  note  that 
'  this  line  of  Theobald,  which  is 
thought  to  be  the  masterpiece 
of  absurdity,  is  evidently  copied 
from  a  line  of  Seneca  in  the  Hercules 
Fiiretis  : — 

"  Ouaeris  Alcidae  parem  ? 
Nemo  est  nisi  Ipse.'" 
Warton's  Pope's  IVorks,  vi.  208. 
"  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  47. 

I  remember 


94 


To  Mrs.  Tkrale. 


[A.D.  1779. 


I  remember  that  he  seems  to  have  it  peculiar  to  his  constitu- 
tion, that  whatever  distemper  he  has,  he  always  has  his  head 
affected,  I  am  less  frighted.  The  seizure  was,  I  think,  not  apo- 
plectical ',  but  hysterical,  and  therefore  not  dangerous  to  life. 
I  would  have  you  however  consult  such  physicians  as  you  think 
you  can  best  trust.  Bromfield  seems  to  have  done  well,  and 
by  his  practice  appears  not  to  suspect  an  apoplexy^.  That  is 
a  solid  and  fundamental  comfort.  I  remember  Dr.  Marsigli  ^, 
an  Italian  physician,  whose  seizure  was  more  violent  than  Mr. 
Thrale's,  for  he  fell  down  helpless,  but  his  case  was  not  con- 
sidered as  of  much  danger,  and  he  went  safe  home,  and  is  now 
a  professor  at  Padua.  His  fit  was  considered  as  only  hysterical. 
I  hope  Sir  Philip  ^,  who  franked  your  letter,  comforts  you  as 
well   as   Mr.  Seward.      If  I  can  comfort  you,  I  will    come  to 


'  '  He  was  mistaken ;  it  was  a 
downright  apoplectic  fit.  That,  which 
was  but  the  second,  he  got  over, 
but  died  soon  after  of  a  fourth  fit.' 
Baretti.  Mrs.  Piozzi  in  a  marginal 
note  says : — '  I  was  sitting  in  the 
drawing-room  when  my  serv-ant  Sam 
opened  the  door  with  un  air  effare 
saying: — "  My  master  is  come  home, 
but  there  is  something  amiss."  I 
started  up,  and  saw  a  tall  black  fe- 
male figure  who  cried,  "  Don't  go 
into  the  library ;  don't  go  in  I  say." 
My  rushing  by  her  somewhat  rudely 
was  all  her  prohibition  gained  ;  but 
there  sate  Mrs.  Nesbitt  holding  her 
brother's  hand,  who,  I  perceived, 
knew  not  a  syllable  of  what  was  pass- 
ing.' She  adds  that  '  he  had  dropped 
as  if  lifeless  from  the  dinner-table  at 
Mrs.  Nesbitt's  house,  and  had  been 
brought  five  or  six  miles  out  of  town 
in  that  condition  '  without  being  seen 
by  a  doctor.  Hayward's  Piozzi,  i. 
299.  Miss  Burney  wrote  a  day  or 
two  later  : — '  At  dinner  everybody 
tried  to  be  cheerful ;  but  a  dark  and 
gloomy  cloud  hangs  over  the  head  of 
poor  Mr.  Thrale,  which  no  flashes  of 
merriment  or  beams  of  wit  can  pierce 


through  ;  yet  he  seems  pleased  that 
everybody  should  be  gay.'  Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  220. 

^  '  Dr.  Bromfield  of  Gerrard  Street, 
my  old  accoucheur,'  writes  Mrs. 
Piozzi.  '  He  convinced  me  it  was  an 
apoplectic  seizure.'  Hayward's /"/c^^/, 
i.  300.     See  ante,  i.  178,  n.  6. 

■^  He  was  in  England  in  1757. 
Life,  i.  322. 

■*  Sir  Philip  Jennings  Clerk.  Life, 
iv.  80.  Mr.  Thrale  was,  no  doubt, 
too  ill  to  frank  his  wife's  letter.  She 
seems  however  to  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  imitating  his  writing,  for  in 
a  letter  to  Johnson  dated  May  16, 
1776,  she  says: — '  Pll  make  Mr. 
Thrale  frank  this  letter  Jiimself  \\}a!& 
italics  are  hers]  for  a  fancy.'  On 
this  Baretti  says  in  a  marginal  note  : 
—'She  franked  for  Mr.  Thrale.' 
Piozzi  Letter's,  i.  332.  If  she  did  so 
she  was  guilty  of  felony,  and  liable 
to  transportation  for  seven  years. 
Gcntloiiaifs  Mas^azine,  1764,  p.  184. 
In  the  summer  assizes  at  Exeter  in 
1 7 S3,  'a  young  gentleman'  was 
sentenced  to  transportation  for  this 

offence.  Gentleman^ s Magazi7ie,\']%2>-> 
p.  708. 

you 


Aetat.  69.J 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


95 


you,  but  I  hope  you  are  now  no   longer   in  want  of  any  help 
to  be  happy. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

The  Doctor^  sends  his  compliments ;  he  is  one  of  the  people 
that  are  growing  old. 

618. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear   Madam,  Ashbourne,  June  14,  1779. 

How  near  we  all  are  to  extreme  danger.  We  are  merry  or 
sad,  or  busy  or  idle,  and  forget  that  death  is  hovering  over 
us.  You  are  a  dear  lady  for  writing  again.  The  case,  as  you 
now  describe  it,  is  worse  than  I  conceived  it  when  I  read  your 
first  letter.  It  is  still  however  not  apoplectick,  but  seems  to 
have  something  worse  than  hysterical,  a  tendency  to  a  palsy, 
which  I  hope  however  is  now  over,  I  am  glad  that  you  have 
Heberden  ^,  and  hope  we  are  all  safer.  I  am  the  more  alarmed 
by  this  violent  seizure,  as  I  can  impute  it  to  no  wrong  practices, 
or  intemperance  of  any  kind  '*,  and  therefore  know  not  how  any 


'  Dr.  Taylor. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  49. 

^  'Johnson  on  being  asked  in  his 
last  ilhiess  what  physician  he  had 
sent  for,  "  Dr.  Heberden,"  replied  he, 
"  ultimiis  RoDianorinn,  the  last  of 
the  learned  physicians.'"  Seward's 
Biographiana,  p.  601.  An  interest- 
ing Memoir  of  Heberden  was  pub- 
lished in  1879  by  Mr.  A.  C.  Duller. 
Great  though  Heberden's  learning 
was,  in  one  matter  he  acted  in  a  manner 
unworthy  of  a  scholar.  Hearing  that 
a  publisher  had  offered  Dr.  Middle- 
ton's  widow  ^150  for  an  unpublished 
work  of  her  husband's,  entitled  The 
Inefficacy  of  Prayer^  he  gave  her 
^200,  and  destroyed  the  manuscript. 
Life  a?id  Works  of  Heberden,  p.  14. 
Perhaps  it  was  partly  on  account  of 
this  action  that  Cowper  addressed 
him  as  '  virtuous  and  faithful  Heber- 


den.' Cowper's/*(?^»zj,  ed.  1786,  i.  272. 
■*  '  The  mere  grief  he  could  not 
overcome  of  his  only  son's  loss. 
Johnson  knew  it,  but  would  not  tell 
it.'  Baretti.  Mrs.  Thrale  recorded 
in  her  Diary  soon  after  his  seizure  : 
— '  Few  people  live  in  such  a  state 
of  preparation  for  eternity,  I  think, 
as  my  dear  master  has  done  since  I 
have  been  connected  with  him  ; 
regular  in  his  public  and  private 
devotions,  constant  at  the  Sacrament, 
temperate  in  his  appetites,  moderate 
in  his  passions — he  has  less  to  ap- 
prehend from  a  sudden  summons 
than  any  man  I  have  known  who 
was  young  and  gay,  and  high  in 
health  and  fortune  like  him.'  Hay- 
ward's  Piozzi,  ii.  29.  After  his 
attack,  when  his  mind  perhaps  was 
weakened,  he  indulged  too  much  in 
eating.  Sttpost,  p.  97,  n.  2,  and  Life, 

defence 


96  To  Henry   Thrale.  [a.d.  1779. 

defence  or  preservative  can  be  obtained.  Mr.  Thrale  has  cer- 
tainly less  exercise  than  when  he  followed  the  foxes,  but  he  is 
very  far  from  unwieldiness  or  inactivity,  and  further  still  from 
any  vicious  or  dangerous  excess.  I  fancy,  however,  he  will  do 
well  to  ride  more. 

Do,  dear  Madam,  let  me  know  every  post  how  he  goes  on. 
Such  sudden  violence  is  very  dreadful ;  we  know  not  by  what  it 
is  let  loose  upon  us,  nor  by  what  its  effects  are  limited. 

If  my  coming  can  either  assist  or  divert,  or  be  useful  to  any 
purpose,  let  me  but  know.     I  will  soon  be  with  you. 

Mrs.  Kennedy,  Queeney's  Baucis,  ended  last  week  a  long  life  of 
disease  and  poverty  \     She  had  been  married  about  fifty  years. 

Dr.  Taylor  is  not  much  amiss,  but  always  complaining. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 
P.  S.  Direct  the  next  to  Lichfield. 


619. 

To  Henry  Thrale^. 
Dear  Sir,  June  15, 1779. 

Though  I  wrote  yesterday  to  my  mistress,  I  cannot  forbear 

writing  immediately  to  you,  my  sincere  congratulation  upon  your 

recovery  from  so  much  disorder,  and  your  escape  from  so  much 

danger.      I  should  have  had  a  very  heavy  part  in  the  misfortune 

of  losing  you,  for  it  is  not  likely  that  I  should  ever  find  such 

another  friend  ^  and  proportionate  at  least  to  my  fear  must  be 

my  pleasure. 

iii.  422,  where  Mrs.  Thrale  writes  to  '  Parva  quidem,   stipulis  et  canna 

Johnson  : — '  Mr.   Thrale   looks    well  tecta  palustri.' 

enough,    but    I    have    no   notion    of  Perhaps  Queeney  had  read   Swift's 

health  for  a  man  whose  mouth  can-  Baucis  aftd  Philemon  ;    she    might 

not   be   sewed    up.'      Miss    IJurney,  however  have  read  the  original,  for 

after   describing    in    May    1779,    'a  Johnson    gave    her    Latin    lessons, 

very  grand  dinner,'  adds  that  '  it  was  Post,  p.  98,  n.  2. 

nothing    to    a    Streatham     dinner.'  ~  Piozzi  Letters^  ii.  57. 

Mme.  D'Arblay's /)/V/rj',  i.  211.  This  letter  is  wrongly  dated  July 

'  Miss  Thrale   had  visited   Lich-  15.      It  was   no  doubt    written   the 

field  in  1774.     Life,  v.  428.    Baucis's  day  after  the  letter  to  Mrs.  Thrale  of 

hut  is  described  in  Ovid's  Metauior-  June  14. 

phases,  viii.  630,  as  ^  Post,  Letter  of  April  5,  1781. 

As 


Aetat.  69.]  To  Mrs.   T/irule.  97 

As  I  know  not  that  you  brought  this  disease  upon  yourself  by 
any  irregularity,  I  have  no  advice  to  give  you.  I  can  only  wish, 
and  I  wish  it  sincerely,  that  you  may  live  long  and  happily,  and 
long  count  among  those  that  love  you  best,  dear  Sir, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

620. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale\ 
Dear    Madam,  Ashbourne,  June  17,  1779. 

It  is  certain  that  your  first  letter  did  not  alarm  me  in  pro- 
portion to  the  danger,  for  indeed  it  did  not  describe  the  danger 
as  it  was.  I  am  glad  that  you  have  Heberden,  and  hope  his 
restoratives  and  his  preservatives  will  both  be  effectual.  In  the 
preservatives  dear  Mr.  Thrale  must  concur;  yet  what  can  he 
reform  ?  or  what  can  he  add  to  his  regularity  and  temperance  ^  ? 
He  can  only  sleep  less  ^.  We  will  do,  however,  all  we  can. 
I  go  to  Lichfield  to-morrow,  with  intent  to  hasten  to  Streatham. 
Both  Mrs.  Aston  and  Dr.  Taylor  have  had  strokes  of  the 
palsy.  The  Lady  was  sixty-eight,  and  at  that  age  has  gained 
ground  upon  it ;  the  Doctor  is,  you  know,  not  young,  and  he  is 
quite  well,  only  suspicious  of  every  sensation  in  the  peccant  arm. 
I  hope  my  dear  master's  case  is  yet  slighter,  and  that  as  his  age 
is  less,  his  recovery  will  be  more  perfect.  Let  him  keep  his 
thoughts  diverted,  and  his  mind  easy"*. 

I  am,  dearest  and  dearest, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  51.  eat  much  or  Httle.    A  strange  man  ! ' 

^  Mrs.  Piozzi  said  that  after  this  ^  Mme.    D'Arblay    mentions    his 

attack  '  Mr.  Thrale's  natural  disposi-  '  immoderate  sleep  after  meals.     Dr. 

tion  to  conviviaHty  degenerated  into  Johnson,'   she   adds,   '  was   so   little 

a  preternatural  desire  for  food.'  Hay-  aware     of    the    insalubrity    of     his 

-ward's  Piozzi,  i.  300.     Baretti  says  course  of  life  that  he  often  laughingly 

that  'Dr.  Johnson  knew  that  Thrale  said,  "  Mr.  Thrale  will  out-sleep  the 

would   eat   like   four,   let  physicians  Seven  Sleepers." '     Memoirs  of  Dr. 

preach.     May  be  he  did  not  know  it,  Biiniey,  ii.  206. 

so  httle  did  he  mind  what  people  were  **  '  That  was  impossible  :  his  lost 

doing.     Though  he  sat  by  Thrale  at  son    was   always   uppermost   in   his 

dinner  he  never  noticed  whether  he  mind.'     Baretti. 

VOL.  II.  H                                                             To 


98  To  Henry   Thrale.  [a.d.  1770. 


621. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dear    Madam,  Lichfield,  June  19,  1779. 

Whether  it  was  that  your  description  of  dear  Mr.  Thrale's 

disorder  was   indistinct,   or  that   I   am   not    ready  at    guessing 

calamity,  I  certainly  did  not  know  our  danger — our  danger,  for  . 

sure  I  have  a  part  in  it,  till  that  danger  was  abated. 

I  am  glad  that  Dr.  Heberden,  and  that  you  perceive  so  plainly 
his  recovery.  He  certainly  will  not  be  without  any  warning  that 
I  can  give  him  against  pernicious  practices.  His  proportion  of 
sleep,  if  he  slept  in  the  night,  was  doubtless  very  uncommon  ; 
but  I  do  not  think  that  he  slept  himself  into  a  palsy.  But 
perhaps  a  lethargick  is  likewise  a  paralytical  disposition.  We 
will  watch  him  as  well  as  we  can.  I  have  known  a  man,  who 
had  a  stroke  like  this,  die  forty  years  afterward  without  another. 
I  hope  we  have  now  nothing  to  fear,  or  no  more  than  is  unalterably 
involved  in  the  life  of  man. 

I  begin  now  to  let  loose  my  mind  after  Queeney  and  Burney  ^. 
I  hope  they  are  both  well.  It  will  not  be  long  before  I  shall  be 
among  you  ;  and  it  is  a  very  great  degree  of  pleasure  to  hope  that 
I  shall  be  welcome. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

622. 

To  Henry  Thrale  ^ 
Dear    Sir,  Lichfield,  June  23,  1779. 

To  shew  you  how  well  I  think  of  your  health,  I  have  sent 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  52.  most  learned  scheme   I  know  not ; 

*  Burney  is  Miss  Burney.     '  They  but,  as  I  have  always  told  you,  I  am 

were,'  writes  Mrs.  Pioz-^i,  '  learning  sure  I  fag  more  for  fear  of  disgrace 

Latin  of  him  ;  but  Dr.  Burney  would  than  for  hope  of  profit.'     In  Decem- 

not  let  his  girl  go  on:  he  thought  ber,  1780,  she  wrote  :^' Miss  Thrale 

grammar  too  masculine  a  study  for  and   I   renewed  our  Latin  exercises 

misses.'     Hay  ward's  Piozzi,   \.  317.  with   Dr.   Johnson,   and    with    great 

Miss  Burney  writing  on  July  20  of  dclat  of  praise.'     Mme.    D'Arblay's 

this  year  says  : — '  Dr.  Johnson  gives  Diary,  i.  243,  427. 

us   a    Latin   lesson    every   morning.  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  54. 
What  progress  we  may  make  in  this 

you 


Aetat.  69.]  To  Mts.   Tkrak.  99 

you  an  hundred  pounds  to  keep  for  me.  It  will  come  within 
one  day  of  quarter  day,  and  that  day  you  must  give  me '.  I 
came  by  it  in  a  very  uncommon  manner,  and  would  not  confound 
it  with  the  rest  ^, 

My  wicked  mistress  talks  as  if  she  thought  it  possible  for  mc 
to  be  indifferent  or  negligent  about  your  health  or  hers.  If  I 
could  have  done  any  good,  I  had  not  delayed  an  hour  to  come 
to  you,  and  I  will  come  very  soon  to  try  if  my  advice  can  be  of 
any  use,  or  my  company  of  any  entertainment. 

What  can  be  done  you  must  do  for  yourself;  do  not  let  any 
uneasy  thought  settle  in  your  mind.  Cheerfulness  and  exercise 
are  your  great  remedies.  Nothing  is  for  the  present  worth  your 
anxiety.  Vivite  laeti  is  one  of  the  great  rules  of  health  ^.  I 
believe  it  will  be  good  to  ride  often,  but  never  to  weariness,  for 
weariness  is  itself  a  temporary  resolution  of  the  nerves,  and  is  there- 
fore to  be  avoided  ■*.  Labour  is  exercise  continued  to  fatigue — 
exercise  is  labour  used  only  while  it  produces  pleasure. 

Above  all,  keep  your  mind  quiet,  do  not  think  with  earnestness 
even  of  your  health,  but  think  on  such  things  as  may  please 
without  too  much  agitation  ;  among  which  I  hope  is,  dear  Sir, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

623. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Dear   Madam,  [Lichfield],  June  24,  1779. 

Though  I  wrote  yesterday  to  Mr.  Thrale,  I  think  I  must  write 

'  Quarter  Day  was  the  24th.  John-  gentleman,   "live   pleasant.'"     Life^ 

son,  I  think,  means  to  say  that  the  i.  344.     Perhaps  Johnson  had  seen 

hundred    pounds     will     reach     Mr.  the    motto    round    the     picture     of 

Thrale  on  the  25th,  but  that  he  must  Racket,    Bishop    of    Lichfield    and 

pay   interest    on    it    for   the    whole  Coventry: — ^  Jnservi  Deo  et  Icetare.' 

quarter  as  if  he  had  received  it  on  "*  See  fiost,  p.  102,  where  Johnson 

the  24th.  writes  : — '  I  take  the  true  definition 

^  See /('i'/.  Letter  of  March  5,  1 78 1,  of    exercise    to    be    labour   without 

where  he  says  that  he  had  received  weariness.'    Resolution  ]ohnsonu^es 

one   hundred   pounds   as   part  pay-  in  a  sense  which  he  does  not  give  in 

ment  of  the  sum  due  for  the  Lives.  his   Dictionary  ;    though    he    comes 

It  is  possible  that  it  was  this  sum  that  near  to  it  when  he  defines  it  as  dis- 

he  would  not  confound  with  the  rest.  solution,  and  instances  '  the  resolu- 

^  '  Mr.     Burke     once     admirably  tion  of  humidity  congealed.' 

counselled    a    grave     and     anxious  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  55. 

H  2  this 


lOO  To  Miss  Reynolds.  [a.d.  1779. 

this  day  to  you  ;  and  I  hope  this  will  be  the  last  letter,  for  I  am 
coming  up  as  fast  as  I  can ;  but  to  go  down  cost  me  seven 
guineas ',  and  I  am  loth  to  come  back  at  the  same  charge. 

You  really  do  not  use  me  well  in  thinking  that  I  am  in  less 
pain  on  this  occasion  than  I  ought  to  be.  There  is  nobody  left 
for  me  to  care  about  but  you  and  my  master,  and  I  have  now 
for  many  years  known  the  value  of  his  friendship,  and  the  im- 
portance of  his  life,  too  well  not  to  have  him  very  near  my  heart. 
I  did  not  at  first  understand  his  danger,  and  when  I  knew  it, 
I  was  told  likewise  that  it  was  over — and  over  I  hope  it  is  for 
ever.  I  have  known  a  man  seized  in  the  same  manner,  who, 
though  very  irregular  and  intemperate,  was  never  seized  again. 
Do  what  you  can,  however,  to  keep  my  master  cheerful,  and 
slightly  busy,  till  his  health  is  confirmed  ;  and  if  we  can  be  sure 
of  that,  let  Mr.  Perkins  "^  go  to  Ireland  and  come  back  as  oppor- 
tunity offers,  or  necessity  requires,  and  keep  yourself  airy,  and  be 

a  funny  little  thins"  ^.  to 

•^       -^  ^  I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

624. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^ 
Dear   Madam,  London,  June  27,  1779. 

I  have  sent  what  I  can  for  your  German  friend.     At  this 

time  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  any  money,  and  I  cannot  give  much  ^ 

I  am.  Madam, 

Your  most  affectionate 

and  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

625. 
To  Charles  Dilly. 
[London,  July  13,  1779-]     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  394. 

'  Ante,  \.  ;^28,n.  l.  sort   of  clothes,  however;  they   are 

"^  The     superintendant      of     Mr.  unsuitable    in   every   way.       What ! 

Thrale's  Brewery  and  his  successor.  have  not  all  insects  gay  colours  ?"  ' 

^  Funny  is  no  doubt  a  misprint  for  Life,  i.  495. 

sunny.     The  words  are,  I  suspect,  a  "*  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 

quotation.    One  day  'on  Mrs.  Thrale  well,  page  632. 

appearing   before    him    in    a   dark-  ^  For    the     difficulty    of    getting 

coloured  gown  he  said,  "  You  little  money  see  ante,  ii.  87,  n.  5. 

creatures   should   never  wear   those 

To 


Aetat.  69.]  To  the  Revereitd  Dr.    Taylor.  loi 

626. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  July  13,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  395. 

627. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 
Dear  Sir, 

Since  my  return  hither  I  have  applied  myself  very  diligently 

to  the  care  of  my  health.     My  nights  grew  better  at  your  house, 

and  have  never  since  been  bad  ;  but  my  breath  was  very  much 

obstructed ;  yet  I   have  at  last  got  it  tolerably  free.     This  has 

not  been  done  without  great  efforts  ;  of  the  last  fifty  days  I  have 

taken  mercurial  physick,   I  believe,  forty,  and   have  lived  with 

much  less  animal  food  than  has  been  my  custom  of  late  ^. 

From  this  account  you  may,  I  think,  derive  hope  and  comfort. 
I  am  older  than  you,  my  disorders  had  been  of  very  long  con- 
tinuance, and  if  it  should  please  God  that  this  recovery  is  lasting, 
you  have  reason  to  expect  an  abatement  of  all  the  pains  that 
encumber  your  life. 

Mr.  Thrale  has  felt  a  very  heavy  blow.  He  was  for  some  time 
without  reason,  and,  I  think,  without  utterance.  Heberden  was 
in  great  doubt  whether  his  powers  of  mind  would  ever  return. 
He  has  however  perfectly  recovered  all  his  faculties  and  all  his 
vigour  ^.  He  has  a  fontanel  ■*  in  his  back.  I  make  little  doubt 
but  that,  notwithstanding  your  dismal  prognostication,  you  may 
see  one  another  again. 

He  purposes  this  autumn  to  spend  some  time  in  hunting  on 

'  First    published    in    Notes    and  way  as  well  as  in  his   neighbours'.' 

Queries,  6th  S.  v.  461.  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  245. 

"^  Miss  Barney  had  written  five  ^  '  Mr.  Thrale  is  as  well  as  ever  he 
days  earlier  to  Mr.  Crisp  : — '  I  fear  was  in  health,  though  the  alarming 
you  are  not  so  steady  in  your  in-  and  terrible  blow  he  so  lately  received 
tended  reformation  as  to  diet  and  has,  I  fear,  given  a  damp  to  his  spirits 
exercise  as  you  proposed  being.  Dr.  that  will  scarce  ever  be  wholly  con- 
Johnson  has  made  resolutions  exactly  quered.  Yet  he  grows  daily  rather 
similar  to  yours,  and  in  general  ad-  more  cheerful.'  lb. 
heres  to  them  with  strictness  ;  but  the  "  '  An  issue  ;  a  discharge  opened 
old  Adam,  as  you  say,  stands  in  his  in  the  body.'     Johnson's  Dictionary. 

the 


I02  To  Mrs.  Tlu^ale.  [a.d.  1779. 

the  downs  of  Sussex.     I  hope  you  are  diligent  to  take  as  much 

exercise  as  you  can  bear.     I  had  rather  you  rode  twice  a  day 

than  tired  yourself  in  the  morning.     I  take  the  true  definition 

of  exercise  to  be  labour  without  weariness  '. 

When  I  left  you,  there  hung  over  you  a  cloud  of  discontent 

which  is  I  hope  dispersed.     Drive  it  away  as  fast  as  you  can. 

Sadness   only  multiplies    self.     Let    us    do   our   duty,   and   be 

cheerful. 

Dear  Sir,  your  humble  Servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

August  3,  1779. 

To  the  Rev'^  Dr.  Taylor  at  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

628. 

To  James  Boswell. 
Streatham,  September  9,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  396. 

629. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  -. 
Dear  Madam,  Monday,  Oct.  4, 1779. 

I  had  intended  to  send  you  such  a  card  as  I  have  inclosed, 

when  I  was  alarmed  by  hearing  that  my  servant  had  told  in  the 

house,  for  servants  never  tell  their  masters,  his  opinion — that  for 

the  two  last  days  Mr.  Thrale  was  visibly  worse.     His  eyes  are 

keen,  and  his  attention  upon  such  occasions  vigorous  enough. 

I  therefore  earnestly  wish,  that  before  you  set  out,  even  though 

you  should  lose  a  day,  you  would  go  together  to  Heberden,  and 

see  what  advice  he  wall  give  you.     In  this  doubtful  pendulous 

state  of  the  distemper,  advice  may  do  much  ;  and  physicians,  be 

their  powers  less  or  more,  are  the  only  refuge  that  we  have  in 

sickness  ^     I  wish   you  would    do   yet  more,   and   propose   to 

Heberden  a  consultation  with  some  other  of  the  doctors;  and  if 

Lawrence  is  at   present  fit  for  business'*,  I  wish  he  might  be 

called,  but  call  somebody.     As  you  make  yourselves  of  more 

importance,  you  will  be  more  considered.     Do  not  go  away  with 

'  Ante,  ii.  99.  *  Perhaps   he   had   had   the   first 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  n.  $^.  attacks   of   the    palsy   which    three 

^Johnson's   piety   here  seems  to      years  later  made  him  unable  to  write, 

slumber.  Life,  iv.  144,  «.  3. 

any 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  TJirale. 


103 


any  reason  to  tax  yourselves  with  negligence.  You  are  in  a 
state  in  which  nothing  that  can  be  done  ought  to  be  omitted. 
We  now  do  right  or  wrong  for  a  great  stake.  You  may  send  the 
children  and  nurses  forward  to-morrow,  and  go  yourselves  on 
Wednesday '.  Little  things  must  not  now  be  minded,  and  least 
of  all  must  you  mind  a  little  money.  What  the  world  has  is  to  be 
sold,  and  to  be  enjoyed  by  those  that  will  pay  its  price.  Do  not 
give  Heberden  a  single  guinea,  and  subscribe  a  hundred  to  keep 
out  the  French  '^ ;  we  have  an  invasion  more  formidable^  and  an 
enemy  less  resistible  by  power,  and  less  avoidable  by  flight.     I 

have  now  done  my  duty. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


630. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^. 
Dear  Madam,  Oct.  5, 1779. 

When  Mr.  Boswell  ■*  waited  on  Mr.  Thrale  in  Southwark,  I 
directed  him  to  watch  all  appearances  with  close  attention,  and 
bring  me  his  observations.  At  his  return  he  told  me,  that  with- 
out previous  intelligence  he  should  not  have  discovered  that  Mr. 
Thrale  had  been  lately  ill. 

It  appears  to  me  that  Mr.  Thrale's  disorder,  whether  grumous 
or  serous  ^,  must  be  cured  by  bleeding ;  and  I  would  not  have 
him  begin  a  course  of  exercise  without  considerable  evacuation  ^. 


'  They  were  going  to  Tunbridge 
Wells. 

^  Adolphus  in  \\\?,  History  of  Ettg- 
land,  ill.  158,  writing  of  this  year 
when  we  were  at  war  with  the  United 
States,  France  and  Spain,  says  : — 
'Individuals  and  publicbodies  entered 
into  large  subscriptions  for  raising 
troops,  giving  bounties  to  seamen, 
and  equipping  privateers.'  Johnson 
ridiculed  the  fears  of  an  invasion. 
Post,  p.  109. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  60. 

■*  Boswell,  who  had  made  a  sudden 
journey   to    London,    had   called   at 


Johnson's  house  the  morning  before 
and  found  him  in  bed.  '  He  called 
briskly,  "  Frank,  go  and  get  coffee, 
and  let  us  breakfast  in  splendour."  ' 
Life,\\\.  400.  Unfortunately  Boswell 
was  very  indolent  in  keeping  his 
Journal  this  visit. 

^  Grumous  Johnson  defines  as 
'  thick,  clotted ' ;  serous  as  '  thin, 
watery  ;  used  of  the  part  of  the  blood 
which  separates  in  congelation  from 
the  grumous  or  red  part.' 

^  Johnson  had  written  to  Boswell 
on  September  9 : — '  Mr.Thrale  goes  to 
Brighthelmstone  about   Michaelmas 

To 


I04  To  Mrs.  Tkrale.  [a.d.  1779. 


To  encrease  the  force  of  the  blood,  unless  it  be  first  diluted  and 
attenuated,  may  be  dangerous.  But  the  case  is  too  important 
for  my  theory. 

The  weakness  in  my  ankles  left  them  for  a  day,  but  has  now- 
turned  to  a  pain  in  my  toe,  much  like  that  at  Brighthelmstone. 
It  is  not  bad,  nor  much  more  than  troublesome ;  I  hope  it  will 
not  be  greater,  nor  last  long. 

You  all  go  with  the  good  wishes  of,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

631 

To  Mrs.  Thrale '. 

Dear  Madam,  London,  Oct.  8, 1779. 

I  begin  to  be  frighted  at  your  omission  to  write  ;  do  not  tor- 
ment me  any  longer,  but  let  me  know  where  you  are,  how  you 
got  thither,  how  you  live  there,  and  every  thing  else  that  one 
friend  loves  to  know  of  another. 

I  will  show  you  the  way. 

On  Sunday  the  gout  left  my  ankles,  and  I  went  very  commo- 
diously  to  Church.  On  Monday  night  I  felt  my  feet  uneasy. 
On  Tuesday  I  was  quite  lame.  That  night  I  took  an  opiate, 
having  first  taken  physick  and  fasted.  Towards  morning  on 
Wednesday  the  pain  remitted. — Bozzy  came  to  me,  and  much 
talk  we  had  ^  I  fasted  another  day  ;  and  on  Wednesday  night 
could  walk  tolerably.  On  Thursday,  finding  myself  mending,  I 
ventured  on  my  dinner,  which  I  think  has  a  little  interrupted  my 
convalescence.  To-day  I  have  again  taken  physick,  and  eaten 
only  some  stewed  apples.  I  hope  to  starve  it  away.  It  is  now 
no  worse  than  it  was  at  Brighthelmstone. 

This,  Madam,  is  the  history  of  one  of  my  toes  ;  the  history  of 
my  head  would  perhaps  be  much  shorter.     I  thought  it  was  the 

to  be  jolly  and  ride  a  hunting.'   Life,  to  say  when  he  was  indolent  with  his 

iii.  397.     For  Johnson's  '  dabbling  in  Journal  :  —  '  During    this    visit    to 

physic '  see  Life,  iii.  1 52.  London  I  had  several  interviews  with 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  61.  Dr.  Johnson,  which  it  is  unnecessary 

""  BoswcU   has   no   record  of  this  to  distinguish  particularly.'     Life,  iii. 

day.     He  says,  as  he  was  accustomed  400. 

gout 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


105 


gout  on  Saturday.  It  has  already  lost  me  two  dinners  abroad, 
but  then  I  have  not  been  at  much  more  charges,  for  I  have  eaten 
little  at  home. 

Surely  I  shall  have  a  letter  to-morrow. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

632. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 

Dear  Madam,  London,  Oct.  n,  1779. 

I  thought  it  very  long  till  I  heard  from  you,  having  sent  a 
second  letter  to  Tunbridge,  which  I  believe  you  cannot  have 
received  ^.  I  do  not  see  why  you  should  trouble  yourself  with 
physicians  while  Mr.  Thrale  grows  better.  Company  and  bustle 
will,  I  hope,  complete  his  cure.  Let  him  gallop  over  the 
Downs  in  the  morning,  call  his  friends  about  him  to  dinner, 
and  frisk  in  the  rooms  at  night  ^  and  outrun  time  and  outface 
misfortune. 

Notwithstanding  all  authorities  against  bleeding,  Mr.  Thrale 
bled  himself  well  ten  days  ago. 

You  will  lead  a  jolly  life,  and  perhaps  think  little  of  me  ;  but 
I  have  been  invited  twice  to  Mrs.  Vesey's  conversation  ^,  but 
have  not  gone.  The  gout  that  was  in  my  ankles  when  Queeney 
criticised  my  gait,  passed  into  my  toe,  but  I  have  hunted  it,  and 
starved  it,  and  it  makes  no  figure.  It  has  drawn  some  attention, 
for  Lord  and  Lady  Lucan  sent  to  enquire  after  me.  This  is  all 
the  news  that  I  have  to  tell  you.     Yesterday  I  dined  with  Mr. 


'  Piozsi  Letters^  ii.  63. 

^  They  soon  left  Tunbridge  Wells 
for  Brighton.  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  i.  267. 

^  '  In  the  evening  we  went  to  the 
rooms,  which  at  this  time  are  open 
every  other  night  at  Shergold's,  or 
the  New  Assembly  Rooms,  and  the 
alternate  nights  at  Hick's  or  the  Ship 
Tavern.  There  was  very  little  com- 
pany. Almost  everybody  but  our- 
selves went  to  cards.'     Id.  p.  268. 


*  Conversation  is  apparently  a 
translation  of  conversazione.  John- 
son uses  it  again,  post,  Letter  of 
December  31,  1783.  In  the  Letter 
of  June  15,  1780,  he  writes  : — 'I  was 
at  Renny's  cottversatione.''  As  we 
have  not  the  originals  a  misprint  is 
possible.  Hawkins  writes  of  '  a  tea- 
conversation.'  Post,  p.  1 13,  n.  3.  For 
Mrs.  Vesey  see  a7ife,  ii.  i^,  n.  3,  and 
for  Lady  Lucan,  ii.  65. 

Strahan, 


io6 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1779. 


Strahan.  and  Bosvvell  was  there  '.     We  shall  be  both  to-morrow 

at  Mr.  Ramsay's  ^     Now  sure  I  have  told  you  quite  all,  unless 

you  yet  want  to  be  told  that 

I  am.  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


633. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Dear  Madam,  Oct.  16,1779. 

The  advice  given  you  by  Dr.  Pepys ''  agrees  very  exactly 

with  my  notions.     I  would  not  bleed  but  in  exigencies.     Riding 

and  cheerfulness  will,  I  hope,  do  all  the  business.     All  alive  and 

merry,  must  be  my  master's  motto. 

How  did  you  light  on  your  specifick  for  the  tooth-ach  ?  You 
have  now  been  troubled  with  it  less.  I  am  glad  you  are  at  last 
relieved. 

You  say  nothing  of  \\i&  younglings'" ;  I  hope  they  are  not 
spoiled  with  the  pleasures  of  Brighthelmston,  a  dangerous 
place,  we  were  told,  for  children.  You  will  do  well  to  keep  them 
out  of  harm's  way. 

From  the  younglings  let  me  pass  to  a  veteran  ;  you  tell  me 

nothing  of  Mr.  S •  ^ ;    I   hope  he  is  well,  and  cheerful  and 

communicative.  Does  Mr.  Thrale  go  and  talk  with  him,  and  do 
you  run  in  and  out  ?  You  may  both  be  the  better  for  his 
conversation. 

I  am  sorry  for   poor  Thomas  ^  who  was  a  decent  and  civil 


'  Life.,  ill.  400. 

"  Life,  iii.  407. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  64. 

"  Sir  Lucas  Pepys.  Boswell  call- 
ing on  Johnson  on  March  22,  1783, 
says : — '  He  was  better,  but  I  per- 
ceived he  was  but  an  unruly  patient, 
for  Sir  Lucas  Pepys,  who  visited  him, 
while  I  was  with  him  said,  "If you 
were  tractable,  Sir,  I  should  pre- 
scribe for  you."  '     Life,  iv.  169. 

^  Miss  Bumey  and  Miss  Thrale. 

*  Perhaps  Mr.  Scrase  (ante,  i.  395) 
or  a  Mr.  Selwin  to  whom  Miss 
Burney   took   '  a  prodigious   fancy,' 


who  was  now  at    Brighton.     Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  285  ;  v.  300. 

^  '  Mrs.  Thrale  entered  all  our 
names  at  Thomas's,  the  fashionable 
bookseller  ;  but  we  find  he  has  now  a 
rival,  situated  also  upon  the  Steyn, 
who  seems  to  carry  away  all  the 
custom  and  all  the  company.  This 
is  a  Mr.  Bowen  who  is  just  come 
from  London.  Mrs.  Thrale,  at  the 
same  time  that  she  sees  his  manage- 
ment and  contrivance,  so  much 
admires  his  sagacity  and  dexterity, 
that,  though  open-eyed,  she  is  as 
easily  wrought  upon  to  part  with  her 

man. 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Miss  Reynolds.  107 

man.  It  is  hard  that  he  should  be  overwhelmed  by  a  new-comer. 
But  thoti  by  some  other  shall  be  laid  as  loiv.  Bowen's  da}'  may 
come.  A  finer  shop  may  be  erected,  kept  by  yet  a  fairer  man, 
and  crowded  by  greater  numbers  of  fine  gentlemen  and  fine 
ladies. 

My  foot  gives  me  very  little  trouble  ;  but  it  is  not  yet  well. 
I  have  dined,  since  you  saw  me,  not  so  often  as  once  in  two 
days.  But  I  am  told  how  well  I  look  ;  and  I  really  think  I  get 
more  mobility.  I  dined  on  Tuesday  with  Ramsay,  and  on 
Thursday  with  Paoli,  who  talked  of  coming  to  see  you,  till  I  told 
him  of  your  migration. 

Mrs.  Williams  is  not  yet  returned  ;  but  discord  and  discontent 
reign  in  my  humble  habitation  as  in  the  palaces  of  monarchs. — 
Mr.  Levet  and  Mrs.  Desmoulins  have  vowed  eternal  hate. 
Levet  is  the  more  insidious,  and  wants  me  to  turn  her  out'. 
Poor  Williams  writes  word  that  she  is  no  better,  and  has  left  off 
her  physick.  Mr.  Levet  has  seen  Dr.  Lewis,  w^ho  declares 
himself  hopeless  of  doing  her  any  good.  Lawrence  desponded 
some  time  ago. 

I  thought  I  had  a  little  fever  some  time,  but  it  seems  to  be 
starved  away.  Bozzy  says,  he  never  saw  me  so  well.  I  hope 
you  will  say  the  same  when  you  see  me  :  methinks  it  will  be 
pleasant  to  see  you  all — there  is  no  danger  of  my  forgetting 
you.     Only  keep  or  grow  all  well,  and  then  I  hope  our  meeting 

will  be  happy. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

634. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^ 

Dearest  Madam,  Oct.  19, 1779- 

You  are  extremely  kind  in  taking  so  much  trouble.     My 

foot  is  almost  well  ;  and  one  of  my  first  visits  will  certainly  be 

to  Dover  Street^.     You  will  do  me  a  great  favour  if  you  will 

money  as  any  of  the  many  dupes  in  '  Ante,  ii.  74,  77. 

this   place   whom    he   persuades   to  ^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 

require    indispensably   whatever  he      well,  page  639. 

shows  them.'     lb.  i.  267.  ^  Ante,  ii.  85,  n.  i. 

buy 


io8  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  [a.d.  1779. 

buy  for  me  the  prints  of  Mr.  Burke,  Mr.  Dyer ',  and  Dr.  Gold- 
smith, as  you  know  good  impressions.  If  any  of  your  own 
pictures  are  engraved,  buy  them  for  me.     I  am  fitting  up  a  Httle 

room  with  prints. 

I  am  your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

635. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor^. 
Dear  Sir, 

[When  I  found  that  the  Deanery  had  given  you  no  uneasi- 
ness, I  was  satisfied,  and  thought  no  more  of  writing.  You  may 
indeed  be  very  well  without  it,  and  [I]  am  glad  to  find  that  you 
think  so  yourself.     You  have  enough,  if  you  are  satisfied  ^.] 

Mr.  Thrale,  after  whose  case  you  will  have  a  natural  curiosity, 
is  with  his  family  at  Brighthelmston.  He  rides  very  vigorously, 
and  runs  much  into  company,  and  is  very  angry  if  it  be  thought 
that  any  thing  ails  him.  Mrs.  Thrale  thinks  him  for  the  present 
in  no  danger.  I  had  no  mind  to  go  with  them,  for  I  have  had 
what  Brighthelmston  can  give,  and  I  know  not  they  much 
wanted  me. 

I  have  had  a  little  catch  ^  of  the  gout ;  but  as  I  have  had  no 
great  opinion  of  the  benefits  which  it  is  supposed  to  convey,  I 
made  haste  to  be  easy,  and  drove  it  away  after  two  days  ^. 

'  Samuel  Dyer,  a  member  of  the  Queries,  6th  S.  v.  461. 

Ivy    Lane    Club    and    the    Literary  ^  This  paragraph  is  erased  in  the 

Club.     Lt/e,   iv.   10,  436.      Johnson  original.      The   only    Deanery   that 

consulted  him  about  a  piece  of  Latin,  had  been  filled  up  this  summer  was 

saying: — 'Sir,    I  beg  to  have  your  that  of  Rochester,  on  June  16.     Le 

judgment,  for   I  know  your  nicety.'  Neve's   Fast.   Eccl.   Angl.,   ii.    579. 

lb.   iv.    II.      Sir    Joshua    Reynolds  See  post,   Letter   of  November    14, 

thought  '  he  was  the  author  of /z/'/z/wj  1781,  for    Taylor's     longings    after 

assisted  by   Edmund  and    William  another  Deanery. 

Burke.'       Prior's    Malone,    p.    419.  "*  There  is  no  instance  in  Johnson's 

The   print   of  him    which   Johnson  Dictionary  or  in    Dr.    Murray's     of 

wanted    was    the    mezzotinto    from  catch  used  in  this  sense. 

Reynolds's  portrait.      *  It  has  been  ^  Horace  Walpole  writing  after  an 

copied  for  the  Lives  of  the  Poets  by  attack  of  the  gout,  says  : — '  The  pain 

mistake,  as  if  it  were  the  portrait  of  would  be  endurable  were  it  to  end 

John  Dyer,  author  of  a  poem  called  here  ;  but  being  the  wicket  through 

the  Fleeced     lb.  p.  423.  which  one  squeezes  into  old  age,  and 

'  First   published    in    Notes    and  the  prospect  pointing  to  more  such 

Publick 


Aetat.  70.]  To  the  Revereiid  Dr.   Taylo^r 


109 


Publick  affairs  continue  to  go  on  without  much  mending,  and 
tliere  are  those  still  who  either  fright  themselves  or  would  fright 
others  with  an  invasion ' ;  but  my  opinion  is  that  the  French 
neither  have  nor  had  in  any  part  of  the  Summer  a  number  of 
ships  on  the  opposite  coast  equal  to  the  transportation  of  twenty 
or  of  ten  thousand  Men.  Such  a  fleet  cannot  be  hid  in  a  creek, 
it  must  be  safely  [easily  ?]  visible  and  yet  I  believe  no  man  has 
seen  the  man  that  has  seen  it.  The  ships  of  war  were  within 
sight  of  Plymouth,  and  only  within  sight. 

I  wish,  I  knew  how  your  health  stands.  My  friends  con- 
gratulate me  upon  my  looks,  and  indeed  I  am  very  free  from 
some  of  the  most  troublesome  of  my  old  complaints,  but  I  have 


wickets,  I  cannot  comfort  myself 
with  that  common  delusion  of  inter- 
mediate health.  What  does  the 
gout  cure  that  is  so  bad  as  itself .'' ' 
Letters^  v.  260.  Nevertheless  twelve 
years  later  he  wrote  : — '  The  gout 
prevents  other  illnesses  and  prolongs 
life.  Could  I  cure  it,  should  not  I 
have  a  fever,  a  palsy,  or  an  apo- 
plexy?' lb.  viii.  362.  John  Wes- 
ley refers  to  the  same  delusion  when 
he  writes  : — '  Regard  not  them  who 
say,  "  The  gout  otight  7iot  to  be 
cured." '  Primitive  Physzck,  ed.  1 762, 
p.  70. 

'  The  Earl  of  Carlisle  wrote  to 
George  Selwyn  on  June  18  of  this 
year  : — '  I  never  saw  less  despond- 
ency, and  more  spirit  manifested  in 
a  difficult  moment,  than  at  the  pre- 
sent. Our  common  practice  is  to  be 
alarmed  for  two  or  three  days,  and 
then  to  go  to  all  the  balls  and  operas, 
as  if  the  country  was  in  the  greatest 
safety.'  G.  Selwyn's  Life,  &c.,  ed.  by 
Jesse,  iv.  198. 

Susan  Burney,  who  was  staying 
at  Chesington  in  Surrey,  wrote  on 
August  25  : — 'A  report  reached  us 
from  Kingston  that  the  French  and 
Spaniards  were  /anded.  Mr.  Crisp, 
who  spends  his  life  in  perpetual  ap- 
prehension of  terrible   national   ca- 


lamities, went  to  Kingston  the  next 
morning,  and  came  back  with  a 
countenance  calculated  to  terrify  and 
crush  temerity  itself.  He  could  eat 
no  dinner.  Troops  of  French  and 
Spaniards  were  landed  at  Falmouth, 
whilst  the  combined  Fleets  were 
tlu'ojving  bombs  itito  Plymouth. 
This  day  and  the  next  we  spent 
really  very  miserably.  Sunday  we 
received  intelligence  from  my  father, 
who  was  at  Mr.  Chamier's  [the 
Under  Secretary  of  State],  that  the 
French  had  not  yet  attempted  to 
land,  and  though  much  was  to  be 
dreaded,  there  yet  remained  some- 
thing to  hope.'  Early  Diary  of 
Fanny  Burney,  ii.  263. 

Mrs.  Barbauld  writing  in  July, 
1803,  when  Napoleon  was  threaten- 
ing England,  says  :— '  Pray  are  you 
an  alarmist  ?  One  hardly  knows 
whether  to  be  frightened  or  diverted 
on  seeing  people  assembled  at  a 
dinner-table,  appearing  to  enjoy  ex- 
tremely the  fare  and  the  company, 
and  saying  all  the  while  with  a  most 
smiling  and  placid  countenance,  that 
the  French  are  to  land  in  a  fortnight, 
and  London  is  to  be  sacked  and 
plundered  for  three  days— and  then 
they  talk  of  going  to  watering-places.' 
Barbauld's  Works,  ii.  92. 

gained 


I  lO 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1779. 


gained  this  relief  by  very  steady  use  of  mercury  and  purgatives, 
with  some  opium,  and  some  abstinence.  I  have  eaten  more  fruit 
this  summer  than  perhaps  in  any  since  I  was  twenty  years  old, 
but  though  it  certainly  did  me  no  harm,  I  know  not  that  I  had 
any  medicinal  good  from  it '. 

Write  to  me  soon.  We  are  both  old.  How  few  of  those  whom 
we  have  known  in  our  youth  are  left  alive !  May  we  yet  live  to 
some  better  purpose. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  most  humble  Servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  Oct.  19,  1779. 
To  the  Rev'i  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


636. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  October  21, 1779. 

Your  treatment  of  little  *  «  »  *  was  undoubtedly  right ; 
when  there  is  so  strong  a  reason  against  any  thing  as  uncon- 
querable terrour,  there  ought  surely  to  be  some  weighty  reason 
for  it  before  it  is  done.  But  for  putting  into  the  water  ^  a  child 
already  well,  it  is  not  very  easy  to  find  any  reason  strong  or 
weak.  That  the  nurses  fretted,  will  supply  me  during  life  with 
an  additional  motive  to  keep  every  child,  as  far  as  is  possible, 
out  of  a  nurse's  power.  A  nurse  made  of  common  mould  will 
have  a  pride  in  overpowering  a  child's  reluctance.  There  are 
few  minds  to  which  tyranny  is  not  delightful ;  power  is  nothing 
but  as  it  is  felt,  and  the  delight  of  superiority  is  proportionate  to 
the  resistance  overcome  "*. 

I  walked  yesterday  to  Covent-garden,  and  feel  to-day  neither 


'  In  his  Life  of  Swift  he  scoffs  at 
that  writer's  notion  that  the  giddi- 
ness from  which  he  suffered  had 
been  caused  by  eating  too  much 
fruit  in  his  youth.  'Ahnost  every 
boy  eats  as  much  fruit  as  he  can  get, 
without  any  great  inconvenience.' 
Works,  viii.  194. 

^  Piozzi  Letters^  ii.  67. 

'  No  doubt  into  the  sea,  for  they 
were  at  Brighton. 


'*  Johnson  in  the  Rambler,  No. 
1 14,  after  showing  how  flattering  and 
delightful  are  power  and  superiority, 
continues  : — '  We  love  to  overlook 
the  boundaries  which  we  do  not  wish 
to  pass ;  and  as  the  Roman  satirist 
remarks,  he  that  has  no  design  to 
take  the  life  of  another  is  yet  glad  to 
have  it  in  his  hands.'  The  Roman 
satirist  is  Juvenal.     Satires,  x.  96. 

pain 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


1 1 1 


pain  nor  weakness.  Send  me,  if  you  can,  such  an  account  of 
yourself  and  my  master. 

Sir  Philip '  sent  me  word  that  he  should  be  in  town,  but  he  has 
not  yet  called.  Yesterday  came  Lady  Lucan  and  Miss  Bingham  ^ 
and  she  said  it  was  the  first  visit  that  she  had  paid. 

Your  new  friend  Mr.  Bowen,  who  has  sold  fifty  sets,  had  but 
thirty  to  sell,  and  I  am  afraid  has  yet  a  set  or  two  for  a  friend. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  fallacy  in  this  world.  I  hope  you  do  not 
teach  the  company  wholly  to  forsake  poor  Thomas  ^. 

The  want  of  company  is  an  inconvenience,  but  Mr.  Cumber- 
land is  a  million  '*.  Make  the  most  of  what  you  have.  Send  my 
master  out  to  hunt  in  the  morning,  and  to  walk  the  rooms  in  the 
evening  ;  and  bring  him  as  active  as  a  stag  on  the  mountain, 
back  to  the  borough.     When  he  is  in  motion  he  is  mending. 

The  young  ones  are  very  good  in  minding  their  book.  If  I  do 
not  make  something  of  them,  "'twill  reflect  upon  vie,  as  I  ktiew  not 
my  trade ;  for  their  parts  are  sufficiently  known,  and  every  body 
will  have  a  better  opinion  of  their  industry  than  of  mine.  How- 
ever, I  hope  when  they  come  back,  to  accustom  them  to  more 
lessons  ^ 

Your  account  of  Mr.  Scrase  gives  me  no  delight.      He  was 


'  Sir  Philip  J.  Clerk.     Ante,  ii.  94. 

'  Bingham  isthe  familynameof  the 
Earls  of  Lucan.  M  iss  Bingham  mar- 
ried in  1781  the  second  Earl  Spencer ; 
and  by  him  was  the  mother  of  Vis- 
count Althorp,  the  Leader  of  the 
House  of  Commons  from  1830  to  1834. 
During  the  time  that  her  husband 
was  at  the  head  of  the  Admiralty  '  she 
is  often  touchingly  mentioned  in  the 
letters  of  Nelson  and  Collingwood, 
as  one  who  was  sure  to  sympathise 
with  them  in  their  difficulties.  She 
used  playfully  to  call  Nelson  her  bull- 
dog.' Memoir  of  Viscount  Althorp, 
p.  20.  Gibbon  described  her  in 
1785  as  'a  charming  woman  who 
with  sense  and  spirit  has  the  sim- 
plicity and  playfulness  of  a  child.' 
Gibbon's  Misc.  Worlds,  ii.  384.  See 
ante,  ii.  65,  nn.  4,  9. 


^  For  Bowen  and  Thomas,  see 
ante,  ii.  106,  n.6.  The  'sets'  were  sets 
of  the  first  four  volumes  oi  Xh&  Lives . 
See  next  Letter  where  Johnson  owns 
that  he  did  Bowen  wrong. 

*  Boswell  quotes  this  passage  in  a 
note.  Life,  iv.  384, ;/.  2.  Northcote, 
according  to  Hazlitt  {Coitversations 
of  Northcote,  p.  275),  said  that  John- 
son and  his  friends  '  never  admitted 

C [Cumberland]  as  one   of  the 

set  ;  Sir  Joshua  did  not  invite  him 
to  dinner.  If  he  had  been  in  the 
room,  Goldsmith  would  have  flown 
out  of  it  as  if  a  dragon  had  been 
there.  I  remember  Garrick  once 
saying,  "  D— n  his  dish-ctoitt  face  ; 
his  plays  would  never  do,  if  it  were 
not  for  my  patching  them  up  and 
acting  in  them."  ' 

5  A7tte,  ii.  98,  ;;.  2. 

a  friend 


112  To  Mrs.   Thrale.  [a.d.  1779. 

a  friend  upon  all  occasions,  whether  assistance  was  wanted  from 
the  purse  or  the  understanding '.  When  he  is  gone,  our  barrier 
against  calamity  is  weakened  ;  and  we  must  act  with  caution,  or 
we  shall  be  in  more  danger.  Consult  him,  while  his  advice  is  yet 
to  be  had. 

What  makes  C hate  B .     D is  indeed  a  rival,  and 

can  upon  occasion  provoke  a  bugle.     But  what  has  B done  ? 

Does  he  not  like  her  look  ^  ? 

*  »  *  *  has  passed  one  evening  with  me.  He  has  made  great 
discoveries  in  a  library  at  Cambridge,  and  he  finds  so  many 
precious  materials,  that  his  book  must  be  a  porter's  load.  He 
has  sent  me  another  sheet  ^. 

I  am,  dearest  of  all  dear  Ladies, 
Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

637. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  October  25,  1779. 

Let  me  repair  an  injury  done  by  misinformation  to  Mr. 

Bowen.     He  had  at  first  indeed  only  thirty,  that  is,  two  shares  ; 

but  he  afterwards  purchased  two  shares  more  ^     So  all  that  he 

says  I  suppose  is  true. 

'  Ante,  i.  348,  395.  jealousy.       He    had    by    this    time 

^  C —  is    Cumberland,    B —  Miss  brought  out   only  one  of  his  seven 

Burney,   and   D —  Dr.   Delap,   who  tragedies — Hecuba — and     that    had 

had  with  him  'another  tragedy,  and  reached  only  the  third  night.  Baker's 

told  Miss  Burney  she  would  have  it  Biog.  Dram.,  ii.  289. 

to  read.'     He    begged    Mrs.    Thrale  '  Provoke   a  bugle,'    if   it    is    not 

for  a  prologue.   Cumberland  avoided  a   quotation,    was    perhaps    one    of 

Miss    Burney,    because,    as   all    the  the   catch-words   of   the    Streatham 

folk  said,  it  had  got  abroad  that  she  set.       Johnson     gives     as     one     of 

was  '  to  bring  out  a  play  that  season.  the    meanings   of  bugle.,   '  a  sort   of 

Though  in  all  other  respects  he  is  an  wild  ox.' 

agreeable  and  a  good  man,  he  is  ^  ScejzJ^i-/,  p.  118,  where  the  same 
notorious  for  hating  and  envying  author  is  probably  mentioned.  I 
and  spiting  all  authors  in  the  dra-  suspect  that  Dr.  Burney  is  meant, 
matic  line.  He  had  given  evident  who  a  year  earlier  had  gone  to  Ox- 
marks  of  displeasure  at  Dr.  Delap's  ford  in  search  of  materials  for  his 
name  whenever  Mrs.  Thrale  has  History  of  Music.  It  fills  four  quarto 
mentioned  it.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  volumes.  Johnson's  name  is  in  the 
Diary,  i.  272,  275,  and  Hayward's  list  of  subscribers. 
Piozzi,  i.  302.  Dr.  Delap's  success  *  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  70. 
had  not  been  so  great  as  to  justify  ^  As  is  shown  by  the  title-page  of 

On 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mts.  Thi'ak.  I  I  3 


On  Saturday  I  walked  to  Dover-street',  and  back.  Yesterday 
I  dined  with  Sir  Joshua.  There  was  Mr.  ElHot  of  Cornwall  ^, 
who  enquired  after  my  master.  At  night  I  was  bespoken  by 
Lady  Lucan ;  but  she  was  taken  ill,  and  the  assembly  was  put 
off.     I  am  to  dine  with  Renny  ^  to-morrow. 

I  hope  Mr.  Thrale  scours  the  country  after  the  early  horn,  and 
at  night  flutters  about  the  rooms,  and  once  a-day  makes  a  lusty 
dinner.  I  eat  meat  but  once  in  two  days,  at  most  but  four  times 
a-week,  reckoning  several  weeks  together ;  for  it  is  neither 
necessary  nor  prudent  to  be  nice  in  regimen.  Renny  told 
me  yesterday,  that  I  look  better  than  when  she  knew  me 
first. 

It  is  now  past  the  postman's  time,  and  I  have  no  letter ;  and 
that  is  not  well  done,  because  I  long  for  a  letter  ;  and  you  should 
always  let  me  know  whether  you  and  Mr.  Thrale,  and  all  the 
rest,  are  or  are  not  well.  Do  not  serve  me  so  often,  because  your 
silence  is  always  a  disappointment. 

Some  old  gentlewomen  at  the  next  door  are  in  very  great  dis- 
tress. Their  little  annuity  comes  from  Jamaica,  and  is  therefore 
uncertain  ;  and  one  of  them  has  had  a  fall,  and  both  are  very 
helpless ;  and  the  poor  have  you  to  help  them.  Persuade  my 
master  to  let  me  give  them  something  for  him.  It  will  be 
bestowed  upon  real  want. 

I  hope  all  the  younglings  go  on  well,  that  the  eldest  are  very 
prudent,  and  the  rest  very  merry.  We  are  to  be  merry  but  a 
little  while  ;  Prudence  soon  comes  to  spoil  our  mirth.    Old  Times 

the  Lives^  thirty-six  firms  of  book-  With    cream  and  sugar   temper'd 

sellers  had  shares  in  it.     J.  Bowen's  well, 

name  comes  last.  Another  dish  of  tea. 

'  Where    Miss    Reynolds    lodged.  xt      r       4.1,  ..  t  ..i         -j 

A   f     •■   Q  Nor  fear  that  I,  my  gentle  maid, 

2   IcS         J    T      J  T71-  ..      u    u  J  Shall  long  detain  the  cup, 

^  Afterwards  Lord  Eliot.     He  had  ,,,,  ^    ,,     u  .^        t 

,,,.,„,.,.„       ,  ^       ,  When  once  unto  the  bottom  1 

travelled  with  Philip  Stanhope,  Lord  -^         ,       1   ^u    r 

„,      ,    z-  ,j,    •„     ■•  T -r  Have  drunk  the  liquor  up. 

Chesterfield  s  illegitimate  son.     Life, 

iv.  332.  Yet    hear    at    last   this    mournful 

^  Miss  Reynolds.     '  At  a  tea-con-  truth, 

versalion,'  writes  Hawkins,  '  Johnson  Nor  hear  it  with  a  frown, 

addressing  himself  to  Miss  Reynolds  Thou  canst  not   make  the  tea  so 

went  on  rhyming  thus  : —  f^^t 

"  I  pray  thee,  gentle  Renny  dear,  As  I  can  gulp  it  down." ' 

That  thou  wilt  give  to  me,  Hawkins's  Life  of  Johnson,  p.  389, 

VOL.  IL                                       I  have 


114  'I^o  Mrs.  Aston.  [a.d.  1779. 

have  bequeathed  us  a  precept,  to  be  merry  and  wise,  but  who  has 

been  able  to  observe  it. 

There  is  a  very  furious  fellow  writing  with  might  and  main 

against  the  life  of  Milton  '. 

I  am,  &c,, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

638. 

To  Mrs.  Aston  ^ 
Dearest  Madam, 

Mrs.  Gastrel  is  so  kind  as  to  write  to  me,  and  yet  I  always 
write  to  you,  but  I  consider  what  is  written  to  either  as  written 
to  both.  Publick  affairs  do  not  seem  to  promise  much  amend- 
ment, and  the  nation  is  now  full  of  distress.  What  will  be  [the] 
event  of  things  none  can  tell,  we  may  still  hope  for  better  times^. 

My  health,  which  I  began  to  recover,  when  I  was  in  the  country, 
continues  still  in  a  good  state  ;  it  costs  me  indeed  some  physick, 
and  something  of  abstinence,  but  it  pays  the  cost.  I  wish,  dear 
Madam,  I  could  hear  a  little  of  your  improvements. 

Here  is  no  news.  The  talk  of  the  invasion"*  seems  to  be  over. 
But  a  very  turbulent  Session  of  Parliament  is  expected  ^,  though 
turbulence  is  not  likely  to  do  any  good.  Those  are  happyest 
who  are  out  of  the  noise  and  tumult.  There  will  be  no  great 
violence  of  faction  at  Stowhill,  and  that  it  may  [be]  free  from 
that  and  all  other  inconvenience  and  disturbance,  is  the  sincere 
wish  of  all  your  friends. 

I  am, 

Dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
Oct.  25, 1779.  Sam  :  Johnson. 

Bolt-court,  Fleet-street. 

'  '  Against  his  Life  of  Milton  the  was  content  with  being  an  individual 

hounds  of  Whiggism  have  opened  in  in    so   free   and    splendid    a   nation, 

full  cry.'     Life,  iv.  40.  'Tis  all  gone,  Madam,  and  methinks 

°  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-  one  sinks  in  one's  own  estimation  in 

w^//,  page  640.  Corrected  by  me  from  proportion.'    L^etters,\'\\.  16%.    John- 

the   original    in    Pembroke    College  son's  tone,  when  he  speaks  of  public 

Libraiy.  affairs,  henceforth  is  gloomy. 

^  Horace  Walpole,   a  week   later,  *  Ante,  ii.  109. 

lamenting    the    decay   of    England,  ^  Parliament  met  on  November  25. 

says: — 'Ambition    I  never  felt,   but  Pari. /list.  \x.  1020. 

To 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


115 


639. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  October  27,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  413. 


640. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dear   Madam,  London,  October  28,  1779. 

Some  days  before  our  last  separation,  Mr.  Thrale  and  I  had 
one  evening  an  earnest  discourse  about  the  business  with  Mr. 
Scrase.  For  myself,  you  may  be  sure  I  am  very  willing  to  be 
useful ;  but  surely  all  use  of  such  an  office  is  at  a  very  great  dis- 
tance ^.  Do  not  let  those  fears  prevail  which  you  know  to  be 
unreasonable  ;  a  will  brings  the  end  of  life  no  nearer^.  But  with 
this  we  will  have  done,  and  please  ourselves  with  wishing  my 
master  mtcltos  et  felices. 

C L ''  accuses  ♦  *  »   *  of  making  a  party  against  her 

play.     I  always  hissed  away  the  charge,  supposing  him  a  man 
of  honour  ;   but    I   shall   now  defend  him  with  less  confidence. 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  72. 

^  For  Mr.  Scrase,  the  solicitor,  see 
ante,  i.  395.  The  office  that  John- 
son was  to  fill  was  that  of  one  of  Mr. 
Thrale's  executors.  Life,  iv.  85,  and 
post,  pp.  1 19,  126. 

^  '  Thus  I  gather  that  death  is  dis- 
agreeable to  most  citizens,  because 
they  commonly  die  intestate  ;  this 
being  a  rule  that  when  their  will  is 
made  they  think  themselves  nearer 
a  grave  than  before  :  now  they,  out 
of  the  wisdom  of  thousands,  think  to 
scare  destiny,  from  which  there  is  no 
appeal,  by  not  making  a  will,  or  to 
live  longer  by  protestation  of  their 
unwillingness  to  die.'  An  Essay  on 
Death.  Bacon's  Works,  ed.  1803, 
ii.  476,  (In  Spedding's  Baco7i,  vi. 
594,  it  is  maintained  that  this  Essay 
is  not  Bacon's.)  Johnson  with  all 
his  wisdom  was  with  difficulty  brought 
to  complete  his  own  will,  and  only 
finally  executed  it  five  days  before 


his  death.     Life,  iv.  402. 

"  '  Charlotte  Lennox.'  Baretti. 
'  Dr.  Goldsmith,  upon  occasion  of 
Mrs.  Lennox's  bringing  out  a  play, 
said  to  Dr.  Johnson  at  the  Club, 
that  a  person  had  advised  him  to  go 
and  hiss  it,  because  she  had  attacked 
Shakspeare  in  her  book  called  Shak- 
speare  Illustrated.  JOHNSON.  "And 
did  not  you  tell  him  he  was  a  rascal  ?" 
Goldsmith.  "  No,  Sir,  I  did  not. 
Perhaps  he  might  not  mean  what  he 
said."  Johnson.  "  Nay,  Sir,  if  he 
lied,  it  is  a  different  thing."  Colman 
slily  said,  (but  it  is  believed  Dr. 
Johnson  did  not  hear  him,)  "  Then 
the  proper  expression  should  have 
been, —  Sir,  if  you  don't  lie,  you're  a 
rascal."'  Life,  iv.  10.  The  play,  it 
is  believed,  was  The  Sister,  brought 
out  in  1769.  Gentleman's  Magazine 
for  1769,  p.  199.  Cumberland  very 
likely  was  the  person  Mrs.  Lennox 
accused.     Ante,  ii.  112,  n.  2. 

I  2  Neqitid 


ii6 


To  Mrs.  Thrale 


[A.D.  1779. 


Neqiiid  nimis.  Horace  says,  that  Nil  admirari  is  the  only  thing 
that  can  make  or  keep  a  man  happy'.  It  is  with  equal  truth  the 
only  thing  that  can  make  or  keep  a  man  honest.  The  desire  of 
fame  not  regulated,  is  as  dangerous  to  virtue  as  that  of  money. 
I  hope  C scorns  his  little  malice^. 

I  have  had  a  letter  for  »  *  ♦  » ^,  which  I  have  inclosed.  Do 
not  lose  it ;  for  it  contains  a  testimony  that  there  may  be  some 
pleasure  in  this  world ;  and  that  T  may  have  a  little  of  the  little 
that  there  is,  pray  write  to  me.  I  thought  your  last  letter  long 
in  coming. 

The  two  younglings,  what  hinders  them  from  writing  to  me. 
I  hope  they  do  not  forget  me. 

Will  Master  give  me  any  thing  for  my  poor  neighbours  ?  I 
have  had  from  Sir  Joshua  and  Mr.  Strahan  ;  they  are  very  old 
maids,  very  friendless  and  very  helpless. 

Mrs.  Williams  talks  of  coming  home  this  week  from  Kingston, 
and  then  there  will  be  merry  doings'". 

I  eat  meat  seldom,  and  take  physick  often,  and  fancy  that  I 
grow  light  and  airy  ^  A  man  that  does  not  begin  to  grow  light 
and  airy  at  seventy,  is  certainly  losing  time,  if  he  intends  ever  to 
be  light  and  airy. 

I  dined  on  Tuesday  with  »  *  *  .  ^  and  hope  her  little  head 
begins  to  settle.  She  has,  however,  some  scruples  about  the 
company  of  a  lady  whom  she  has  lately  known.  I  pacified  her 
as  well  as  I  could.     So  no  more  at  present ;  but  hoping  you  are 


'  Horace,  i  Epis.  vi.  i. 
*  Not  to  admire  is  all  the  art  I  know 

To  make  men  happy,  and  to  keep 
them  so.' 

Creech. 

^  C ,  I  suppose,  is  Charlotte. 

^  I  suspect  Johnson  wrote  not  'for,' 
but  'from  Boswell.'  Boswell  had 
written  to  him  in  high  spirits  from 
Chester,  and  begged  two  lines  in 
reply,  so  as  '  to  keep  his  lamp  burn- 
ing bright.'  Johnson  wrote  back  on 
the  27th  : — '  Of  what  importance  can 
it  be  to  hear  of  distant  friends  to 
a  man  who  finds  himself  welcome 
wherever   he  goes,  and  makes  new 


friends  faster  than  he  can  want  them?' 
Life,  iii.  413. 

"*  '  So  here  are  merry  doings,'  he 
writes,  post,  Letter  of  October  27, 
1781. 

^  Airy  is  a  favourite  word  with 
Johnson.  Mrs.  Cholmondely  he  called 
'  a  very  airy  lady.'  Life,  v.  248. 
In  Rasselas,  ch.  xxv,  he  says,  '  the 
daughters  of  many  houses  were  airy 
and  cheerful.'  He  defines  it  as  'gay, 
sprightly,  full  of  mirth,'  &c. 

*  '  I  could  fill  up  this  blank  if  I 
chose,  but  will  not,  as  thereby  hangs 
a  tale.'     Baretti. 

all 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.    Tlirale. 


117 


all    in   good  health,  as  I  am   at   this  time  of  writing,  (excuse 

^^^'^^)-  I  am,  dearest  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

641. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  Nov.  2,  1779. 

This  day  I  thought  myself  sure  of  a  letter,  but  so  I  am 

constantly  served.     Mr.  Cumberland  and  Mrs.  *  *  «  *  ,  and  Mrs. 

Byron  ^  and  any  body  else,  puts   me  out   of  your  head  ;    and 

I  know  no  more  of  you  than  if  you  were  on  the  other  side  of  the 

Caspian.     I  thought  the  two  young  things  were  to  write  too  ;  but 

for  them  I  do  not  much  care. 

On  Saturday  came  home  Mrs.  Williams,  neither  better  nor 
worse  than  when  she  went ;  and  I  dined  at  ♦  *  ♦  ♦  's,  and  found 
them  well  pleased  with  their  Italian  journey.  He  took  his 
Lady  and  son,  and  three  daughters.  They  staid  five  months 
at  Rome.     They  will  have  now  something  to  talk  of. 

I  gave  my  poor  neighbour-'  your  half  guinea,  and  ventured 
upon  making  it  two  guineas  at  my  master's  expence.  Pray, 
Madam,  how  do  I  owe  you  half  a  guinea? 

I  dined  on  Sunday  with  Mr.  Strahan,  and  have  not  been  very 
well  for  some  little  time.  Last  night  I  was  afraid  of  the  gout, 
but  it  is  gone  to-day. 

There  was  on  Sunday  night  a  fire  at  the  north  end  of  London- 
bridge,  which  has,  they  say,  destroyed  the  water-work ''. 

Does  Mr.  Thrale  continue  to  JuDit  in  fields  for  Jicalth  unboughtf^ 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  74. 

^  Ante,  ii.  79. 

^  Johnson,  I  suspect,  wrote  neigh- 
bours.    Ante,  ii.  113. 

*  'In  the  year  1582  Peter  Morice, 
a  Dutchman,  contrived  a  water- 
engine  to  supply  the  citizens  with 
Thames  water  ;  this  was  about  fifty 
years  ago  improved  by  Mr.  Sorocold, 
and  since  that  time  by  that  great 
master  of  hydrauHcs,  Mr.  Hadley. 
The  wheels  placed  under  the  arches 
of  the  Bridge  are  moved  by  the  com- 


mon stream  of  the  tide-water  of  the 
Thames.  In  the  first  arch  next  the 
City  [the  north  end  of  the  bridge] 
is  one  wheel  with  double  work  of 
sixteen  forcers.'  Dodsley's  London 
attd  its  Environs,  ed.  1761,  iv.  146. 
For  the  fire  see  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine, 1779,  p.  562. 

^  '  Better  to  hunt  in  fields  for  health 
unbought 
Than  see  the  doctor  for  a  nau- 
seous draught.' 
Dryden.  Lines  to  John  Driden. 

If 


ii8 


To  Mrs.  Th^ale. 


[A.D.  1779. 


If  his  taste  of  former  pleasures  returns,  it  is  a  strong  proof  of  his 
recovery.     When  we  meet,  we  will  be  jolly  blades. 

I  know  not  well  how  it  has  happened,  but   I  have  never  yet 

been  at  the  B s.     ,..♦♦»  has  called  twice  on  me,  and  I  have 

seen  some  more  sheets — and  away  we  go'. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

642. 

To  Mrs.  THRALE^ 

Madam,  London,  Nov.  4,  1779. 

So  I  may  write  and  write,  and  nobody  care ;  but  you  can 
write  often  enough  to  Dr.  Burney.  Oueeney  sent  me  a  pretty 
letter,  to  which  »  *  »  added  a  silly  short  note,  in  such  a  silly 
white  hand,  that  I  was  glad  it  was  no  longer ^ 

I  had  heard  before  that  *  »  *  *  had  lost  not  only  ten  thousand, 
as  you  tell  me,  but  twenty  thousand,  as  you  with  great  consist- 
ency tell  Dr.  Burney ;  but  knowing  that  no  man  can  lose  what 
he  has  not,  I  took  it  little  to  heart.  I  did  not  think  of  borrowing  ; 
and  indeed  he  that  borrows  money  for  adventures  deserves  to 
lose  it.     No  man  should  put  into  a  lottery  more  than  he  can 

spare.     Neither  D ,  however,  nor  B have  given  occasion 

to  his  loss"*. 

Notice  is  taken  that  I  have  a  cold  and  a  cough  ;  but  I  have 
been  so  long  used  to  disorders  so  much  more  afflictive,  that  I  have 


1  The    B s    are,    I  think,   the 

Burneys.     Afiie,  ii.  112,  n.  3. 

^  Piozzi  Letters^  ii.  76. 

^  'Do  you  know  I  have  been  writing 
to  Dr.  Johnson  !  I  tremble  to  men- 
tion it ;  but  he  sent  a  message  in  a 
letter  to  Mrs.  Thrale,  to  wonder  why 
his  pupils  did  not  write  to  him,  and 
to  hope  they  did  not  forget  him. 
Miss  Thrale  therefore  wrote  a  letter 
immediately,  and  I  added  only  this 
little  postscript :— "  P.S.  Dr.  Johnson's 
other  pupil  a  little  longs  to  add  a 
few  lines  to  this  letter, — but  knows 
too  well  that  all  she  has  to  say  might 


be  comprised  in  signing  herself  his 
obliged  and  most  obedient  servant, 
F.  B.  :  so  that's  better  than  a  long 
rigmarole  about  nothing."'  Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  285. 

■*  The  person  who  had  had  the  loss 

is  described,  ^^J/",  p.  123,  as  C . 

Cumberland  would   seem  to  be  the 

man,  the  more  so  as  D and  B 

would  fit  in  with  what  has  been  said 
about  Dr.  Delap  and  Miss  Burney. 
Ante,  ii.  1 12,  n.  2.  For  Mrs.  Thrale's 
'  laxity  of  narration,'  see  Li/e,  iii. 
243. 

thought 


Aetat.  70.]  To    MvS.  AstoU.  I  I9 

thought  on  them  but  httlc.  If  they  grow  worse,  something 
should  be  done. 

I  hear  from  every  body  that  Mr.  Thrale  grows  better.  He  is 
cohunen  dovms ' ;  and  if  he  stands  firm,  little  evils  may  be  over- 
looked. Drive  him  out  in  the  morning,  lead  him  out  at  night, 
keep  him  in  what  bustle  you  can. 

Do  not  neglect  Scrase.  You  may  perhaps  do  for  him  what 
you  have  done  for  »  *  *  *  The  serious  affair  I  do  not 
wonder  that  you  cannot  mention  ;  and  yet  I  wish  it  were  trans- 
acted while  Scrase  can  direct  and  superintend  it  ^.  No  other 
man,  if  he  shall  have  the  same  skill  and  kindness,  which  I  know 
not  where  to  find,  will  have  the  same  influence. 

Sir  Philip  -^  never  called  upon  me,  though  he  promised  me  to 
do  it.     Somebody  else  has  laid  hold  upon  him. 

I  live  here  in  stark  solitude.     Nobody  has  called  upon  me 

this  live-long  day  ;  yet  I  comfort  myself  that  I  have  no  tortures 

in  the  night.     I  have  not  indeed  much  sleep ;    but  I  suppose 

I   have   enough,  for   I   am    not    as   sleepy  in  the  day-time   as 

formerly. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

643. 

To  Mrs.  Aston'*. 

Dearest  Madam, 

Having  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  Mr.  Boswel  that 
he  found  you  better  than  he  expected,  I  will  not  forbear  to  tell 
you  how  much  I  was  delighted  with  the  news^.  May  your 
health  encrease  and  encrease,  till  you  are  as  well  as  you  can 
wish  yourself,  or  I  can  wish  you. 

My  Friends  tell  me  that  my  health  improves  too.  It  is  certain 
that  I  use  both  physick  and  abstinence,  and  my  endeavours  have 
been  blessed  with  more  success  than  at  my  age  I  could  reason- 
ably hope.     I  please  myself  with  the  thoughts  of  visiting  you 

'  Ante,  i.  405.  from  the  original  in  Pembroke  College 

^  Ante,  ii.  115,  n.  2.  Library. 

^  Aiite,  ii.  94,  n.  4.  ^  Boswell,  on  his  return  from  his 

"  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-      autumn  visit  to  London,  had  passed 
well,   page  640.     Corrected   by   me      a  night  at  Lichfield.     Life,\\\.  ^w. 

next 


I20  To  Mrs.  Astoii.  [a.d.  1779. 

next  year  in  so  robust  a  state  that  I  shall  not  be  afraid  of  the 
hill  between  Mrs.  Gastrel's  house  and  yours,  nor  think  it  neces- 
sary to  rest  myself  between  Stowhill  and  Lucy  Porter's.  Of 
publick  affairs  I  can  give  you  no  very  comfortable  account. 
The  Invasion  has  vanished  for  the  present  as  I  expected.  I 
never  believed  that  any  invasion  was  intended'.  But  whatever 
we  have  escaped  we  have  done  nothing,  nor  are  likely  to  do 
better  another  year.  We,  however,  who  have  no  part  of  the 
nation's  welfare  entrusted  to  our  management,  have  nothing 
to  do  but  to  serve  God,  and  leave  the  world  submissively  in 
his  hands. 

All  trade  is  dead,  and  pleasure  is  scarce  alive.  Nothing 
almost^  is  purchased  but  such  things  as  the  buyer  cannot  be 
without,  so  that  a  general  sluggishness  and  general  discontent 
are  spread  over  the  town.  All  the  trades  of  luxury  and  elegance 
are  nearly  at  a  Standi  What  the  Parliament  when  it  meets 
will  do,  and  indeed  what  it  ought  to  do  is  very  difficult  to 
say. 

Pray  set  Mrs.  Gastrel,  who  is  a  dear  good  lady,  to  write  to  me 
from  time  to  time,  for  I  have  great  delight  in  hearing  from  you, 
especially  when  I  hear  any  good  news  of  your  health. 

I  am, 

Dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  Servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

London,  Bolt-court,  Fleet-street. 
Nov.  5,  1779. 

'  Ante,  ii.  109.  lish,  ask  how  we  did  before  tea  and 

*  See  Life,  ii.  446,  for  a  note  on  sugar  were  known.    Better,  no  doubt ; 

almost  nothing.     Beattie,   like  Bos-  but  as  I  did  not  happen  to  be  born 

well's     '  accurate     English     friend,'  two  or  three  hundred  years  ago,   I 

looked  upon  it  as  not  English.     See  cannot    recollect    precisely   whether 

his  Scoticisvis,  p.  9.  diluted    acorns    and    barley    bread, 

^  Horace  Walpolc  wrote  ten  days  spread    with    honey,    made    a   very 

later  :— '  The  friends  of  Government,  luxurious  breakfast.'  Letters,  vii.  275. 

who  have  thought  of  nothing  but  of  On  November  16  he  wrote  :—' Dis- 

reducing  us  to  our  islandhood,  and  tress  and  dissatisfaction  do  begin  to 

bringing  us  back  to  the  simplicity  of  murmur  everywhere.     Men  do  per- 

ancient    times,    when   we    were    the  ceive   that    they   cannot    live    upon 

frugal,  temperate,  virtuous  old  Eng-  loyalty  and  dissipation.'     lb.  p.  277. 

To 


Aetat.  70.]  To    AIvS.    Tkralc.  12  1 


644. 

To  Mrs.  THRALE^ 

London,  November  7,  1779. 

Poor  Mrs.  »»»*,!  am  glad  that  she  runs  to  you  at  last  for 
shelter.  Give  her,  dear  Madam,  what  comfort  you  can.  Has 
any  calamity  fallen  upon  her?  Her  husband,  so  much  as  I  hear, 
is  well  enough  spoken  of;  nor  is  it  supposed  that  he  had  power 
to  do  more  than  has  been  done^.  But  life  must  have  its  end,  and 
commonly  an  end  of  gloomy  discontent,  and  lingering  distress. 

While  you  are  vigorous  and  sprightly,  you  must  take  into  your 
protection  as  many  as  you  can  of  those  who  are  tottering  under 
their  burden.  When  you  want  the  same  support,  may  you 
always  find  it. 

I  have  for  some  time  had  a  cough  and  a  cold,  but  I  did  not 
mind  it  ;  continuance,  however,  makes  it  heavy  ;  but  it  seems  to 
be  going  away. 

My  master,  I  hope,  hunts  and  walks,  and  courts  the  belles,  and 
shakes  Brighthelmston.  When  he  comes  back,  frolick  and 
active,  we  will  make  a  feast,  and  drink  his  healthy  and  have 
a  noble  day. 

Of  the  Lucans^  I  have  never  heard  since.  On  Saturday,  after 
having  fasted  almost  all  the  week,  I  dined  with  Renny"*.     For 

'  Pioszi  Letters,  ii.  78.  Horace   Walpole,    writing    on    Sep- 

""  I  only  arrived  at  the  clue  to  this  tember    16    about    the    capture    of 

passage  by  the  discovery  that  a  letter  Grenada,    says  : — '  The    subsequent 

of  Mrs.  Thrale  given  in  Mme.  D'Ar-  narrative  of  the  engagement  is  more 

blay's  Diary  under  the  date  of  17S1  favourable.     It  allows  the  victory  to 

(ii.  3)  must  have  been  written  in  the  the  enemy,  but  makes  their  loss  of 

autumn  of  1779.     In  it  she  writes  : —  men  much  the  more   considerable.' 

'  In   the    midst    of  my   own   misery  Letters,  vii.  252.     For  an  account  of 

I    felt   for   my   dear    Mrs.   Byron's  ;  the   French  conquests  in  the  West 

but    Chamier    [Under   Secretary   of  Indies  see  Ann.  Reg.   1779,   i.    199. 

State,  Life,  i.  478,  n.  i]  has  relieved       Poor  Mrs.  B and  her  husband 

that  anxiety  by  assurances  that  the  were,  I  conjecture,  Admiral  and  Mrs. 

Admiral  behaved  quite  unexception-  Byron,   grand-parents   of    the   poet. 

ably,  and  that  as  to  honour  in  the  A7ite,  ii.  79,  n.  5,  and  post,  Letter  of 

West    Indies   all    goes    well.      The  November  12,  1781. 

Grenadas  are  a  heavy  loss  indeed,  ^  Ante,  ii.  65,  nti.  4,  9. 

nor  is  it  supposed  possible  for  Byron  ''  Miss    Reynolds.     Ante,   ii.  113, 

to  protect  Barbadoes  and  Antigua.'  //.  3. 

Wednesday, 


122 


To  Mrs.  Tlirale. 


[A.D.  1779. 


Wednesday  I  am  invited  by  the  ♦  ^  »  »  s,  and  if  I  am  well, 
purpose  to  go.  I  imagine  there  will  be  a  large  company.  The 
invitation  is  to  dine  and  spend  the  evening.  Too  much  at 
a  time.  I  shall  be  in  danger  of  crying  out,  with  Mr.  Head, 
catamaran,  whatever  that  may  mean,  for  it  seemed  to  imply 
tediousness  and  disgust '.  I  do  not  much  like  to  go,  and  I  do 
not  much  like  to  stay  away. 

Have  you  any  assemblies  at  this  time  of  the  year  ?  and  does 

Queeney  dance?    and   does  B dance  too?     I  would  have 

B dance  with  C ,  and  so  make  all  up"". 


Discord  keeps  her  residence  in  this  habitation,  but  she  has  for 
some  time  been  silent.  We  have  much  malice,  but  no  mischief. 
Levet  is  rather  a  friend  to  Williams,  because  he  hates  Desmou- 
lines  more.  A  thing  that  he  should  hate  more  than  Desmoulines, 
is  not  to  be  found  ^. 


'  Mrs.  Piozzi  says  that  Mr.  Head's 
real  name  was  Plunkett.  He  was  a 
low  Irish  parasite,  whom  Mr.  Thrale 
and  Mr.  Murphy  once  made  per- 
sonate some  lord  whom  they  had 
promised  to  introduce  to  the  beauti- 
ful Miss  Gunnings  \Life,  v.  359,  n.  2] 
when  they  came  over  to  make  their 
fortunes.  '  The  girls  played  off  their 
best  airs,  till  the  fellow  wearied  with 
his  ill-acted  character  burst  out  on  a 
sudden  as  they  sat  at  tea,  and  cried 
"  Catamaran  !  young  gentlemen  with 
two  shoes  and  never  a  heel :  when  will 
you  have  done  with  silly  jokes  now  ? 
Ladies,"  turning  to  the  future  peer- 
esses, "  never  mind  these  merry  boys ; 
but  if  you  really  can  afford  to  pay 
for  some  incomparable  silk  stock- 
ings, or  true  India  handkerchiefs, 
here  they  are  now  "  ;  rummaging  his 
smuggler's  pockets  ;  but  the  girls 
jumped  up  and  turned  them  all  three 
into  the  street,  where  Thrale  and 
Murphy  cursed  their  senseless  as- 
sistant, and  called  him  Head,  because 
they  swore  he  had  none.'  Hayward's 
Pio2zi,  i.  317. 

"  Miss    Bumcy  and   Cumberland. 


They  had  met  at  the  Rooms,  but  he 
had  at  once  turned  round.  '  Mrs. 
Thrale,'  writes  Miss  Burney,  'told 
me  the  conversation  she  had  just  had 
with  him.  As  soon  as  I  made  off,  he 
said  with  a  spiteful  tone  of  voice, 
"  Oh  !  that  young  lady  is  an  author, 
Ihear."  "Yes,"  answered  Mrs.  Thrale, 
"author  oi  Evelinar  "Humph! — I 
am  told  it  has  some  humour."  "  Ay, 
indeed,  Johnson  says  nothing  like 
it  has  appeared  for  years."  "  So," 
cried  he,  biting  his  lips,  and  waving 
uneasily  in  his  chair,  "  so,  so  ! " 
"  Yes,"  continued  she,  "  And  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  told  Mr.  Thrale  he 
would  give  fifty  pounds  to  know  the 
author."  "So,  so! — oh  !  vastly  well!'' 
replied  he,  putting  his  hand  on  his 
forehead.  " Nay,"  added  she,  "Burke 
himself  sat  up  all  night  to  finish  it."' 
Tliis  seemed  quite  too  much  for  him  ; 
he  put  both  his  hands  to  his  face, 
and  waving  backwards  and  forwards 
said  :— "  Oh  !  vastly  well ! — this  wiil 
do  for  anything ! "  with  a  tone  as 
much  as  to  say,  "  Pray,  no  more." ' 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  276. 
^  A7iie,  ii.  107. 

I  hear, 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mts.  Tkralc. 


I  hear,  but  you  never  tell  me  any  thing,  that  you  have  at  last 
begun  to  bathe'.  I  am  sorry  that  your  toothach  kept  you  out 
of  the  water  so  long,  because  I  know  you  love  to  be  in  it. 

If  such  letters  as  this  were  to  cost  you  any  thing,  I  should 
hardly  write  them  ^ ;  but  since  they  come  to  you  for  nothing, 
I  am  willing  enough  to  write,  though  I  have  nothing  to  say ; 
because  a  sorry  letter  serves  to  keep  one  from  dropping  totally 
out  of  your  head  ;  and  I  would  not  have  you  forget  that  there 
is  in  the  world  such  a  poor  being  as, 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

645. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^. 

Dear  Madam,  London,  Nov.  8,  1779. 

You  are  a  dear  dear  lady.  To  write  so  often,  and  so 
sweetly,  makes  some  amends  for  your  absence.  Your  last  letter 
came  about  half  an  hour  after  my  last  letter  was  sent  away ; 
but  now  I  have  another.  You  have  much  to  tell  me,  and  I 
have  nothing  to  tell  you  ;  yet  I  am  eager  to  write,  because 
I  am  eager  for  your  answer. 

I  thought  C had  told  you  his  loss^     If  it  be  only  report, 

I  do  not  much  credit  it.  Something  perhaps  he  may  have 
ventured,  but  I  do  not   believe  he   had   ten   thousand  pounds, 

or  the  means  of  borrowing  it.     Of  B ,  I  suppose  the  fact  is 

true,  that  he  is  gone  ;  but  for  his  loss,  can  any  body  tell  who 
has  been  the  winner?  And  if  he  has  lost  a  sum  disproportionate 
to  his  fortune,  why  should  he  run  away  when  payment  cannot 
be  compelled  ? 

Of  Sir   Thomas^   I    can    make    no   estimate;    but   if  he   is 

'  The  month  of  November  is  late  to  Mr.  Thrale,  who,  as  a  inember  of 

in  the  year  for  sea-bathing.    We  find  parliament,   received    them    free   of 

Johnson,    when   he  was   sixty-seven  charge, 
years  old,  bathing  near  the  end  of  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  81. 

October.     Life,    iii.    92.     See   post,  '*  Ante,  \i.  118. 

Letter  of  November  14,  17S2,  ;/.  =  '  Sir  Thomas  Mill.'     Baretti. 


Johnson  no  doubt  addressed  them 


distressed, 


124  To  Mrs.  T/irale.  [a.d.  1779. 

distressed,  I  am  sorry;  for  he  was  in  his  prosperity  civil  and 
officious. 

It  has  happened  to  ,  as  to  many  active  and  prosperous 

men,  that  his  mind  has  been  wholly  absorbed  in  business,  or  at 
intervals  dissolved  in  amusement :  and  habituated  so  long  to 
certain  modes  of  employment  or  diversion,  that  in  the  decline  of 
life  it  can  no  more  receive  a  new  train  of  images,  than  the  hand 
can  acquire  dexterity  in  a  new  mechanical  operation.  For  this 
reason  a  religious  education  is  so  necessary.  Spiritual  ideas 
may  be  recollected '  in  old  age,  but  can  hardly  be  acquired. 

You  shall  not  hide  Mrs.  »  *  »  *  ^  from  me.  For  if  she  be  a 
feeler  ^,  I  can  bear  a  feeler  as  well  as  you  ;  and  hope,  that  in 
tenderness  for  what  she  feels  from  nature,  I  am  able  to  forgive 
or  neglect  what  she  feels  by  affectation.  I  pity  her,  as  one  in  a 
state  to  which  all  must  come  ;  and  I  think  well  of  her  judgment 
in  chusing  you  to  be  the  depository  of  her  troubles,  and  easer  of 
her  bosom.     Fondle  her,  and  comfort  her. 

Your  letters  have  commonly  one  good  paragraph  concerning 
my  master,  who  appears  to  you,  and  to  every  body,  to  mend 
upon  the  whole  ;  though  your  vigilance  perceives  some  accidental 
and  temporary  alterations,  which,  however,  I  am  willing  to  hope 
are  more  rare  and  more  slight  than  they  were  at  first.  Let  him 
hunt  much,  and  think  little,  and  avoid  solitude.  I  hope  time 
has  brought  some  company  whom   you  can  call  now  to  your 

table  ■*.     Does    he    take    to   ?     Does   he   love  her  as  you 

profess  to  love ?  with  a  fifth  part  of  the  kindness  that  she 

has  for  me  ^.     I  am  well  rewarded  for  what  I  have  taught  you 

'  Johnson   defines   to   recollect  as  men    to   dinner.     Among  them  was 

'  to  recover  to  memory.'     See  Life,  Single  -  speech     Hamilton.'       Mme. 

iv.  126,  where  he  distinguishes  be-  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  293.     Miss  Bur- 

tween  remember  and  recollect.  ney   gives   amusing   reports    of    the 

^  Ante,  ii.  121.  conversation  at  the  Rooms  and  else- 

^  'BOSWELL.  "  I  have  often  blamed  where,     /i:!'.  278-296. 
myself,  Sir,  for  not  feeling  for  others  ^  Mrs.     Thrale     replied  : — '  Poor 

as  sensibly  as  many  say  they  do."  Mrs.  *  *  *  *  is  past  dissembling  her 

Johnson.  "  Sir,  don't  be  duped  by  cares,  or  their  consequences,  a  ruined 

them  any  more.     You  will  find  these  constitution  :    my    master   does    not 

very   feeling    people    are    not    very  like  her  much,  nor  dislike  her  :  he  is 

ready  to    do   you  good.     They /cj/  all  so  gay  now — up  iunong  tJie  boughs, 

yowhy  feeling.'^'    Life,'n.  ()^.  as  Miss  Owen  calls  it.'  Piozzi  Letters^ 

*  'We  had  a  large  party  of  gentle-  ii.  85. 

of 


Aetat.  70.]  To  J\/rs.  77irale.  125 


of  computation  ',  by  seeing  our  friendship  divided  into  factions  ; 
so  we  stand,  do  we?  as  two  to  ten.  A  pretty  appearance  upon 
paper,  and  still  prettier  in  the  heart.  Well^^^  thy  ways  old 
Jack  \ 

Of  the  capture  of  Jamaica  nothing  is  known,  nor  do  I  think 
it  probable  or  possible  ^  How  the  French  should  in  a  few 
day  take  from  us  an  island,  which  we  could  not  in  almost  a 
century  take  from  a  few  fugitive  Negroes  whom  the  Spaniards 
left  behind  them,  is  not  easily  imagined  "*,  If  you  stay  much 
longer  in  Sussex,  you  may  perhaps  hear  that  London  is 
taken. 

We  have  a  kind  of  epidemick  cold  amongst  us,  of  which  I 
have  had  my  part,  but  not  more  than  my  part  ;  and  I  think 
myself  growing  well.  I  have  lived  very  sparingly,  but  shall  have 
some  dinner  to-day;  and  Baretti  dines  with  me  \ 

I  am,  dearest  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

646. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  November  13,  1779.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  416. 

'  Post,  Letter  of  July  24,  1783.  took  possession  of  the  island,  after  it 

^  I  Hetiry  IV,  Act  ii.  sc.  4.  had  been    in  the  possession  of  the 

^  Horace  Walpole  wrote   on   No-  Spaniards   161   years.      The   slaves, 

vember  6  : — '  If  there  is  a  sprig  of  called  Maroons,  who  had  fled  to  the 

truth   left   growing   in    Bedfordshire  mountains,     continued     formidable. 

I  entreat  your  Ladyship  to  spare  me  Down  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 

a  cutting,  for  there  is  not  a  leaf  to  be  century    their     disaffection     caused 

had   in    town    for    love    or   money ;  much    trouble.     Encyclo.   Brit.,  9th 

everything  is  so  dear!  and  yet  false-  ed.,  xiii.  550. 

hood    bears    a    still    higher    price.  ^  '  That  I  did  as  seldom  as  I  could, 

Jamaica  is  taken,  and  it  is  not  ;  the  though    often    scolded  for  it,  but    I 

combined  fleets  are  sailed,  and  they  hated  to  see  the  victuals  gnawed  by 

are  not,'  &c.     Letters,  vii.  270.  poor  Mrs.  Williams,  that  would  often 

""  Near   the   end   of  the   reign   of  carve  though  stone-blind.'   Baretti. 

Elizabeth,  and  again  in  the  reign  of  Boswell  who  dined  at  Johnson's  house 

Charles  I,  the  English  made  attacks  describes  everything  as  '  in  very  good 

on  Jamaica  but  did  not  occupy  it.  In  order.'     Life,  ii.  215. 
1655  an  expedition  sent  by  Cromwell 

To 


126  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1779. 


647. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 

Dear  Madam,  London,  Nov.  16,  1779. 

Pray  how   long  does   a   letter  tarry  between   London   and 
Brighthelmston  ?    Your  letter  of  the  12th  I  received  on  the  15th. 

Poor  Mrs.  *  »  »  ♦  is  a  feeler^.  It  is  well  that  she  has  yet  power 
to  feel.  Fiction  durst  not  have  driven  upon  a  few  months  such  a 
conflux  of  misery.     Comfort  her  as  you  can. 

I  have  looked  again  into  your  grave  letter.  You  mention 
trustees.  I  do  not  see  who  can  be  trustee  for  a  casual  and 
variable  property,  for  a  fortune  yet  to  be  acquired.  How  can 
any  man  be  trusted  with  what  he  cannot  possess,  cannot  ascer- 
tain, and  cannot  regulate  ?  The  trade  must  be  carried  on  by 
somebody  who  must  be  answerable  for  the  debts  contracted  ^. 
This  can  be  none  but  yourself;  unless  you  deliver  up  the 
property  to  some  other  agent,  and  trust  the  chance  both  of  his 
prudence  and  his  honesty.  Do  not  be  frighted  ;  trade  could  not 
be  managed  by  those  who  manage  it,  if  it  had  much  difficulty''. 
Their  great  books  are  soon  understood,  and  their  language, 

If  speech  it  may  be  call'd,  that  speech  is  none 
Distinguishable  in  number,  mood,  or  tense  ^, 

is  understood  with  no  very  laborious  application. 

The  help  which  you  can  have  from  any  man  as  a  trustee,  you 
may  have  from  him  as  a  friend  ;  the  trusteeship  may  give  him 
power  to  perplex,  but  will  neither  increase  his  benevolence  to 
assist,  nor  his  wisdom  to  advise. 

Living  on  God,  and  on  thyself  rely. 

Who  should  be  trustee  but  you,  for  your  own  and  your  children's 
prosperity?  I  hope  this  is  an  end  of  this  unpleasing  speculation, 
and  lighter  matters  may  take  their  turn. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  90.  ^  A  parody  of  Paradise  Lost,  ii. 

'  Ante,  ii.  124.  667  : — 

^  The  brewery  was  carried  on  in  'If  shape  it  might  be  called  that 

her  name  after  her  husband's  death.  shape  had  none 

Ante,  ii.  23,  n.  i.  Distinguishable  in  member,  joint 

*  Post,  Letter  of  April  11,  1781.  or  limb.' 

What 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thi'ale. 


12' 


What  Mr.  Scrase  says  about  the  Borough  is  true,  but  is 
nothing  to  the  purpose.  A  house  in  the  square  will  not  cost  so 
much  as  building  in  Southwark  ;  but  buildings  are  more  likely 
to  go  on  in  Southwark  if  your  dwelling  is  at  St.  James's  '. 
Every  body  has  some  desire  that  deserts  the  great  road  of  pros- 
perity, to  look  for  pleasure  in  a  bye-path.  I  do  not  see  with 
so  much  indignation  Mr.  Thrale's  desire  of  being  the  first  Brewer, 
as  your  despicable  dread  of  living  in  the  Borough '.  Ambition 
in  little  things,  is  better  than  cowardice  in  little  things  ;  but  both 
these  things,  however  little  to  the  publick  eye,  are  great  in  their 
consequences  to  yourselves.  The  world  cares  not  how  you  brew, 
or  where  you  live  ;  but  it  is  the  business  of  the  one  to  brew  in  a 
manner  most  advantageous  to  his  family,  and  of  the  other  to 
live  where  the  general  interest  may  best  be  superintended.  It 
was  by  an  accidental  visit  to  the  Borough  that  you  escaped  great 
evils  last  Summer.  Of  this  folly  let  there  be  an  end,  at  least  an 
interm'ssion. 

I  am  glad  that  Queeney  danced  with  Mr.  Wade  ^  She  was 
the  Sultaness  of  the  evening  ;  and  I  am  glad  that  Mr.  Thrale 
has  found  a  riding  companion  whom  he  likes''.  Let  him  ride,  say 
I,  till  he  leaves  dejection  and  disease  behind  him  ;  and  let  them 


'  Mr.  Scrase,  I  think,  had  urged 
them  to  take  a  house  at  St.  James's 
as  cheaper  than  building  in  South- 
wark. Johnson  repHed,  'Yes;  but 
if  you  leave  Southwark  Mr.  Thrale 
will  be  more  likely  to  begin  enlarging 
his  Brewery ;  for  he  would  not  be 
inconvenienced  by  the  building  going 
on  close  to  his  house.  His  great 
ambition  is  to  enlarge  his  Brewery, 
so  as  to  outbrew  Whitbread.' 

^  '  Mr.  Thrale  took  a  ready-fur- 
nished house  in  Grosvenor  Square.' 
Baretti.  See  Life,  iv.  72.  From 
an  old  physician  '  I  learnt,'  writes 
Mrs.  Piozzi,  '  what  had  determined 
my  husband's  choice  to  me.  He  had, 
the  doctor  said,  asked  several  women, 
naming  them,  but  all  except  me  re- 
fused to  live  in  the  Borough,  to  which 
and  to  his  business,  he  observed,  he 


was  as  unaccountably  attached  now 
as  he  had  been  in  his  father's  time 
averse  from  both.'  H  ay  ward's  Piozzi, 
i.  256. 

^  In  a  note  on  one  of  her  letters 
written  from  Bath  a  year  later  Mrs. 
Piozzi  says,  that  Mr.  Wade  had  been 
'  hooted  out  of  Bath  for  showing  a 
lady's  love-letters  to  him  ;  such  is 
the  resentment  of  all  the  females  that 
even  the  housemaid  refused  to  make 
his  bed.'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  134; 
Hay  ward's  Piozzi,  i.  320. 

'•  Perhaps  Single-speech  Hamilton 
who  was  at  Brighton.  One  day  riding 
after  the  hounds  with  Dr.  Johnson 
on  the  Brighton  Downs,  '  he  called 
out,  "  Why  Johnson  rides  as  well, 
for  aught  I  see,  as  the  most  illiterate 
fellow  in  England.'"  Y\ozz\'%  Anec- 
dotes, p.  206. 

limp 


128 


To  Mrs.    Thrale. 


[A.D.  1779. 


limp  after  him  an  hundred  years  without  overtaking  him.  When 
he  returns,  let  me  see  him  frolick  and  airy,  and  social,  and  busy, 
and  as  kind  to  me  as  in  former  times. 

You  seem  to  be  afraid  that  I  should  be  starved  before  you 
come  back.  I  have  indeed  practised  abstinence  with  some 
stubbornness,  and  with  some  success  ;  but  as  Dryden  talks  of 
•writing  zvith  a  hat\  I  am  sometimes  very  witty  with  a  knife 
and  fork.  I  have  managed  myself  very  well ;  except  that  having 
no  motive,  I  have  no  exercise. 

At  home  we  do  not  much  quarrel ;  but  perhaps  the  less  we 
quarrel  the  more  we  hate.  There  is  as  much  malignity  amongst  us 
as  can  well  subsist,  without  any  thoughts  of  daggers  or  poisons. 

Mrs.  is    by  the  help   of  frequent  operations  still  kept 

alive  ;  and  such  is  the  capricious  destiny  of  mortals,  that  she  will 
die  more  lamented  by  her  husband,  than  I  will  promise  to 
usefulness,  wisdom,  or  sanctity.  There  is  always  something 
operating  distinct  from  diligence  or  skill.  Temple  therefore 
in  his  composition  of  a  hero,  to  the  heroick  virtues  adds  good 
fortune  ^ 


I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 


648. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  I 

London,  Nov.  20,   1779. 

Indeed,  dear    Madam,  I    do   not   think   that   you   have   any 


reason  to    complain   of   Mr. 


'  'I'll  write  a  Play,  says  one,  for  I 
have  got 
A  Broad-brim'd  Hat,  and  Waste- 
Belt  towards  a  Plot. 
Says  th'  other,  I  have  one  more 

large  than  that. 
Thus  they  out-write  each  other 
with  a  Hat.' 
Prologtie  to  the  Conquest  of  Granada. 
"^  Sir  William  Temple  in  his  Essay 
Of  Heroic    Virtue,   says    that    '  the 
excellency  of  genius '  must  not  only 
'  be  cultivated  by  education  and  in- 
struction,' but  also  '  must  be  assisted 
by  fortune  to  preserve  it  to  maturity; 


or    Mr. 


What 


because  the  noblest  spirit  or  genius 
in  the  world,  if  it  falls,  though  never 
so  bravely,  in  its  first  enterprises, 
cannot  deserve  enough  of  mankind 
to  pretend  to  so  great  a  reward  as 
the  esteem  of  heroic  virtue.'  Temple's 
Works,  ed.  1757,  iii.  306. 

^  Pioszi  Letters,  ii.  94. 

"  Baretti  fills  up  these  two  blanks 
with  the  names  of  Crutchley  and 
Cator,  who  were  joint  executors  with 
Johnson.  Life,  iv.  202,  n.  i;  313. 
'  Mrs.  Thrale  suspected  Crutchley  to 
be  the  natural  son  of  Thrale.'  Hay- 
ward's  Piozzi,  ii.  351. 

I  proposed 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mrs.  Portev.  1 29 

I  proposed  is,  I  suppose,  unusual.  However,  Mr.  Thrale  knows 
that  I  have  suggested  nothing  to  you  that  I  had  not  first  said  to 
him.  I  hear  he  grows  well  so  fast,  that  we  are  not  likely  to  try 
whose  way  is  best ;  and  I  hope  he  will  grow  better,  and  better, 
and  better ;  and  then  away  with  executors  and  executrixes. 
He  may  settle  his  family  himself. 

I  am  not  vexed  at  you  for  not  liking  the  Borough,  but  for  not 
liking  the  Borough  better  than  other  evils  of  greater  magnitude. 
You  must  take  physick,  or  be  sick  ;  you  must  live  in  the 
Borough,  or  live  still  worse. 

Pray  tell  my  Queeney  how  I  love  her  for  her  letters ;  and  tell 
Burney  that  now  she  is  a  good  girl,  I  can  love  her  again.  Tell 
Mr.  Scrase,  that  I  am  sincerely  glad  to  hear  that  he  is  better. 
Tell  my  master,  that  I  never  was  so  glad  to  see  him  in  my  life, 
as  I  shall  be  now  to  see  him  well ;  and  tell  yourself,  that  except 
my  master,  nobody  has  more  kindness  for  you,  than, 

Dear  Madam,  your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

649. 

To  Mrs.  Porter'.  ^y^^.  2    1779. 

I  have  enclosed  Mr.  Bosweli's  answer.  I  still  continue  better 
than  when  you  saw  me,  but  am  not  just  at  this  time  very  well, 
but  hope  to  mend  again.  Publick  affairs  remain  as  they  were. 
Do  not  let  the  papers  fright  you. 

650. 

To  Dr.  Lawrence. 
[London],  January  20,  1780.     Published  in  the  Life^  iii.  419. 

'  Printed  in  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  forwarding  '  Lucy  Porter's  petition,' 

Co.'s    Ai(ctio7i    Catalogue   for    Au-  said: — '  Return  me  her  letter,  which 

gust  21,    1872,  Lot  80.      One  page  I  have  sent  that  you  may  know  the 

quarto.  whole  case,  and  not  be  seduced  to 

Miss   Porter   wanted  Boswell   '  to  anything   that   you    may  afterwards 

inquire  concerning  the  family  of  a  repent.   Miss  Doxy  perhaps  you  know 

gentleman  who  was  then  paying  his  to  be  Mr.  Garrick's  niece.'    Life^  iii. 

addresses  to  Miss  Doxy.'    Johnson,  417. 

VOL.  II.  K                                                            To 


i^o 


To  John  Nichols. 


[A.D.  1780. 


651. 

To  John  Nichols  '. 

[Early  in  1780.] 

Mr.  Johnson  purposes  to  make  his  next  attempt  upon  Prior, 
at  least  to  consider  him  very  soon,  and  desires  that  some  volumes 
pubHshed  of  his  papers,  in  two  vols.  8vo,  may  be  procured  ^ 

The  turtle  and  sparrow  can  be  but  a  fable  ^.  The  Conversation 
I  never  read. 

652. 

To  John  Nichols. 

[Early  in  1780]. 

Dr.  Warton  tells  me  that  Collins's  first  piece  is  in  the  G.  M. 
for  August,  1739 "".    For  August  there  is  no  such  thing.    Amashis 


'  This  and  the  next  two  notes  were 
first  published  in  the  Gentlemaii^s 
Magazine  for  1785,  pages  9,  10. 

They  refer  to  the  Lives  of  Prior, 
Grafiville  and  Collins.  These,  as  we 
learn  by  Johnson's  Letter  to  Mrs. 
Thrale  of  May  9,  1780,  were  finished 
before  that  date. 

^  Miscellaneous  Works  of  the  late 
Matthew  Prior,  Esq.,  2  vols.  %vo., 
advertised  in  the  Gentleman' s  Maga- 
zine, 1739,  p.  556. 

^  'This  refers,'  says  Nichols  in  a 
note,  'to  a  hint  given  him  in  conse- 
quence of  what  is  said  in  the  Life  of 
Prior  \Works,  viii.  15]  that  "of  his 
Tales  there  are  only  four." '  Johnson 
was  right  in  his  statement,  for  The 
Turtle  and  Spaj-row,  if  it  is  a  tale, 
xsAn  Elegiac  Tale,  occasiotted  by  the 
Death  of  Prince  George,  1708,  and 
Conversation,  though  it  also  is  called 
a  taie,  does  not  any  more  than  the 
other  belong  to  the  class  of  which 
Johnson  was  thinking. 

"  Johnson,  in  his  Life  of  Collins, 
says  that  '  he  first  courted  the  notice 
of  the  public  by  some  verses  to  a 
Lady  Weeping,  published  in  the 
Gentlemati's  Magazine.'     As  a  kind 


of  appendix  to  the  Life  we  find  the 
following  : — 

'  Mr.  Collins's  first  production 
is  added  here  from  the  Poetical 
Calendar  : — 


TO  MISS  AURELL\  C- 


-R, 


ON  HER  WEEPING  AT  HER  SISTER'S 

WEDDING. 
Cease,  fair  Aureha,  cease  to  mourn  ; 

Lament  not  Hannah's  happy  state ; 
You  may  be  happy  in  your  turn, 

And  seize  the  treasure  you  regret. 

With  Love  united  Hymen  stands, 
And  softly  whispers  toyour  charms ; 

"  Meet  but  your  lover  in  my  bands. 
You'll     find    your    sister    in     his 
arms." ' 

Among  Collins's  Poetns—ia.r  too  few 
in  number— this  piece  has  been 
always  given.  Henceforth,  I  fear,  it 
must  no  longer  appear  in  that  grace- 
ful company.  It  was  first  published 
in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for 
1739,  p.  41,  and  is  signed  Amasius. 
Its  author  therefore  was  Dr.  Swan. 

Collins's  first  piece  was  published, 
not  in  the  August  number  of  the 
Gentleman's      Magazine,     as      Dr. 

was 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


i.^i 


was  at  that  time  the  poetical  name  of  Dr.  Swan,  who  translated 
Sydenham  '. 

Where  to  find  Collins  I  know  not.    I  think  I  must  make  some 
short  addition  to  Thomson's  sheet,  but  will  send  it  to-day. 


653. 

ctt^  To  John  Nichols.  rr^    ,    • 

Sir,  •'  [Early  m  1780.] 

In  examining  this  Book  I  find  it  necessary  to  add  to  the  life 

the  preface  to  the  British  Enchanters,  and,  you  may  add,  if  you 

will,  the  notes  on  Unnatural  Flights-. 


I 


am. 


Friday. 

To  Mr.  Nicol  \sic\ 


Sir,   &c. 


654. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  3. 


Dearest  Lady,      ''"'  "'•''^^"  -^"^-'^^^  •  April  6,  1780. 

You  had  written  so  often.     I  have  had  but  two  letters  from 


Warton  said,  but  in  that  for  October 
(P-  545)'  It,  too,  is  about  a  Lady's 
tears  ;  hence  perhaps  the  confusion 
between  the  two  poems.  It  is  as 
follows  : — 
*  WhenPhcebe  form'd  a  wanton  smile, 

My  soul !  it  reach'd  not  here  : 
Strange  that  thy  peace,  thou  trembler, 
flies 

Before  a  rising  tear  ! 
From  midst  the  drops  my  love  is  born, 

That  o'er  those  eyelids  rove  ; 
Thus  issued  from  a  teeming  wave 

The  fabled  queen  of  love.' 
Johnson,  I  conjecture,  mentions 
Amasius  in  his  Letter,  because  in 
the  August  number  there  are  some 
lines  signed  with  that  name  which 
Nichols  might  have  attributed  to 
Collins.  Hawkins  says  that  Cave, 
the  editor  of  the  Magazine,  showed 
him  one  day  Collins's  beautiful  poem 
To  Fair  Fidele" s grassy  tomb.  '  Cave,' 
he  adds,  'could  not  be  convinced  of 
the  propriety  of  the  name  Fidele  ;  he 

K 


thought  Pastora  a  better  one,  and  so 
printed  it.'  Hawkins's y^/^wi-f?;?,  p.  49. 
It  is  thus  printed  in  the  Cenfloiian's 
Magazine  for  1749,  p.  466.  Johnson 
in  1765  published  it  in  his  edition  of 
.Shakespeare  at  the  end  of  Cynibeline. 

I  have  found  the  following  entry 
among  The  Orders  of  the  Delegates 
of  the  Clarendon  Press  : — 

'Februarys,  1769.  Mr.  Collins's 
Copy  of  Verses  to  Sir  Thos.  Hanmer 
to  be  inserted  after  the  Preface  [of 
Hanmer's  edition  of  Shakespeare].' 

'  Sydenham,  the  great  physician, 
whose  Life  Johnson  has  briefly 
written  [Works,  vi.  405)  published 
his  medical  treatises  in  Latin. 

-  The  Essay  on  Unnatural  Flights 
in  Poetry  and  The  British  Enchaftters 
are  by  George  Granville,  afterwards 
Lord  Lansdowne.  N  either  the  preface 
nor  the  notes  are  added  to  his  Life. 
See  post,  Letter  of  August  8,  17S0. 

■*  Piozzi  Letters,  \\.  95. 

This  letter  is  misdated  1 779.  Miss 
2  Bath, 


132 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


Bath,  and  the  second  complains  that  the  first,  which  you  call  so 
many,  was  neglected,  and  you  pretend  to  be  afraid  of  being  for- 
gotten. I  wonder  what  should  put  you  out  of  my  mind.  You 
say  rightly,  that  I  shall  not  find  such  another ;  for  there  is  not, 
if  I  had  the  choice  of  all,  such  another  to  be  found. 

It  is  happy,  both  for  you  and  Mrs.  Montague ',  that  the  fates 
bring  you  both  to  Bath  at  the  same  time.  Do  not  let  new 
friends  supplant  the  old  ;  they  who  first  distinguished  you  have 
the  best  claim  to  your  attention ;  those  who  flock  about  you 
now,  take  your  excellence  upon  credit,  and  may  hope  to  gain 
upon  the  world  by  your  countenance. 

I  have  not  quite  neglected  my  Lives  "",  Addison  is  a  long  one, 
but  it  is  done.  Prior  is  not  short,  and  that  is  done  too.  I  am 
upon  Rowe,  who  cannot  fill  much  paper  ^.  If  I  have  done  them 
before  you  come  again,  I  think  to  bolt  upon  you  at  Bath ;  for  I 
shall  not  be  now  afraid  of  Mrs.  Cotton  ■*.  Let  Burney  take  care 
that  she  does  me  no  harm. 


Burney,  writing  from  Bath  on  April  7, 
1780,  describes  the  journey.  'Mr. 
Thrale,'  she  says,  '  was  charmingly 
well  and  in  very  good  spirits,  and 
Mrs.  Thrale  must  be  charming,  well 
or  ill.'  On  their  journey  they  slept 
one  night  at  the  Bear  Inn,  Devizes. 
They  saw  the  landlord's  son,  'a  most 
lovely  boy  of  ten  years  of  age,  who 
seems  to  be  not  merely  the  wonder 
of  their  family,  but  of  the  times,  for 
his  astonishing  skill  in  drawing.  We 
found  that  he  had  been  taken  to  town, 
and  that  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  had 
pronounced  him,  the  mother  said,  the 
most  promising  genius  he  had  ever 
met  with.'  The  boy  was  Thomas 
Lawrence,  afterwards  President  of  the 
Royal  Academy.  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  i.  310,  312. 

*  '  I  am  very  glad,'  writes  Miss 
Burney, '  at  this  opportunity  of  seeing 
so  much  of  Mrs.  Montagu  ;  for,  allow- 
ing a  little  for  parade  and  ostentation, 
which  her  power  in  wealth  and  rank 
in  literature  offer  some  excuse  for, 
her  conversation  is  very  agreeable  ; 


she  is  always  reasonable  and  sen- 
sible, and  sometimes  instructive  and 
entertaining ;  and  I  think  of  our 
Mrs.  Thrale,  we  may  say,  the  very 
reverse,  for  she  is  always  entertain- 
ing and  instructive,  and  sometimes 
reasonable  and  sensible  ;  and  I  write 
this  because  she  is  just  now  looking 
over  me — not  but  what  I  think  it  too.' 
lb.  i.  325. 

^  '  In  1780,  the  world  was  kept  in 
impatience  for  the  completion  of  his 
Lives  of  the  Poets,  upon  which  he 
was  employed  so  far  as  his  indolence 
allowed  him  to  labour.'  Life,  iii.  418. 

^  In  a  note  on  the  Life  of  Rowe, 
Nichols  says  :  — 'This  Life  is  a  very 
remarkable  instance  of  the  uncommon 
strength  of  Dr.  Johnson's  memory. 
\\  hen  I  received  from  him  the  MS. 
he  complacently  observed  that  the 
criticism  was  tolerably  well  done, 
considering  that  he  had  not  read  one 
of  Rowe's  plays  for  thirty  years.' 
Works,  vii.  417. 

"  No    doubt     the    Mrs.    C ,   a 

relation  of  Mrs.  Thrale,  whom  Miss 

The 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


^Vo 


The  diligence  of  Dr.  Moisy '  I  do  not  understand.  About 
what  is  he  diligent  ?  If  Mr.  Thrale  is  well,  or  only  not  well 
because  he  has  been  ill,  I  do  not  see  what  the  physician  can  do. 
Does  he  direct  any  regimen,  or  does  Mr.  Thrale  regulate  himself? 
Or  is  there  no  regularity  among  you?  Nothing  can  keep  him 
so  safe  as  the  method  which  has  been  so  often  mentioned,  and 
which  will  be  not  only  practicable  but  pleasant  in  the  Summer, 
and  before  Summer  is  quite  gone,  will  be  made  supportable  by 
custom. 

If  health  and  reason  can  be  preserved  by  changing  three  or 
four  meals  a  week,  or  if  such  a  change  will  but  encrease  the 
chances  of  preserving  them,  the  purchase  is  surely  not  made  at 
a  very  high  price.  Death  is  dreadful,  and  fatuity  is  more  dread- 
ful, and  such  strokes  bring  both  so  near,  that  all  their  terrours 
ought  to  be  felt.  I  hope  that  to  our  anxiety  for  him,  Mr.  Thrale 
will  add  some  anxiety  for  himself. 

Seward  called  on  me  one  day,  and  read  Spence  ^  I  dined 
yesterday  at   Mr.  Jodrel's  -^   in   a  great   deal   of  company.     On 


Burney  describes  as  '  an  ugly,  proud 
old  woman,  but  marvellous  civil  to 
me.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  313. 
Mrs.  Thrale  says  : — '  Miss  Burney 
was  much  admired  at  Bath  (1780)  ; 
the  puppy-men  said,  "  She  had  such 
a  drooping  air  and  such  a  tim.id  in- 
telligence "  ;  or  "  a  timid  air,"  1  think 
it  was,  "  and  a  drooping  intelligence," 
never  sure  was  such  a  collection  of 
pedantry  and  affection  [z>.  affectation] 
as  filled  Bath  when  we  were  on  that 
spot.'     Hayward's  Piozzi,  ii.  341. 

'  Mrs.  Thrale  in  one  of  her  letters 
says  : — '  Oh,  here  comes  Dr.  Moysey, 
to  talk  about  \\'hig  and  Tory,  and 
the  reign  of  King  Charles  the  Second ; 
how  that  style  of  conversation  does 
wear  one  out,  especially  from  a  pro- 
fessional man,  and  when  one  is 
wishing  to  bring  forward  a  subject 
really  interesting.'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii. 
130.  'Abel  Moysey,  M.D.  of  Bath, 
died  August  11,  1780,  aged  64.' 
Nichols's  Lit.  Artec. ^  ix.  538. 


^  Spence's  Anecdotes  were  pub- 
lished in  1820.  Warburton,  Joseph 
Warton,  Johnson,  and  Malone  had 
been  allowed  to  read  them  in  the 
manuscript,  as  we  are  told  in  the 
Preface.  See  Life,  iv.  63.  Johnson 
described  Spence  as  '  a  weak  con- 
ceited man.'  BoswELL.  'A  good 
scholar,  Sir?'  JOHNSON.  '  Why,  no, 
Sir.'  BoswELL.  '  He  was  a  pretty 
scholar.'  JOHNSON.  '  You  have 
about  reached  him.'     lb.  v.  317. 

'  He  was,'  writes  Horace  Walpole, 
'  a  good-natured,  harmless  little  soul, 
but  more  like  a  silver  penny  than  a 
genius.  It  was  a  neat  fiddle-faddle, 
bit  of  sterling,  that  had  read  good 
books  and  kept  good  company,  but 
was  too  trifling  for  use,  and  only  fit 
to  please  a  child.'     Letters,  vii.  366. 

^  Richard  Paul  Jodrell  was  the 
author  of  The  Persian  Heroine,  a 
Tragedy,  which,  in  Baker's  Biog. 
DraiJi.,  i.  400,  is  wrongly  assigned  to 
his    son    Sir    R.    P.    Jodrell,    M.D. 

Sunday 


134  1^0  Mrs.  Porter.  [a.d.  1780. 

Sunday  I  dine  with  Dr.  Lawrence,  and  at  night  go  to  Mrs.  Vesey. 
I  have  had  a  little  cold,  or  two,  or  three,  but  I  did  not  much  mind 
them,  for  they  were  not  very  bad. 

Make  my  compliments  to  my  master,  and  Queeney,  and 
Burney,  and  Mrs.  Cotton,  and  to  all  that  care  about  me,  and 
more  than  all — or  else. 

Now  one  courts  you,  and  another  caresses  you,  and  one  calls 

you  to  cards,  and  another  wants  you  to  walk  ;  and  amidst  all 

this,  pray  try  to  think  now  and  then  a  little  of  me,  and  write 

often.     Mrs.  Strahan  is  at  Bath,  but,  I  believe,  not  well  enough 

to  be  in  the  rooms.         ^  ,  ^.^    , 

1  am,  dearest  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

655. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  April  8,  1780.     Published  in  the  Zi/e,  iii.  420. 

656. 

Dear  Madam,  ^^  ^^^-  ^0^"^^^  '•  London,  April  8, 1780. 
I  am  indeed  but  a  sluggish  correspondent,  and  know  not 
whether  I  shall  much  mend  :  however,  I  will  try.  I  am  glad 
that  your  oysters  proved  good,  for  I  would  have  every  thing 
good  that  belongs  to  you  ;  and  would  have  your  health  good, 
that  you  may  enjoy  the  rest.  My  health  is  better  than  it  has 
been  for  some  years  past  ;  and,  if  I  see  Lichfield  again,  I  hope 
to  walk  about  it. 

Your  brother's  request  I  have  not  forgotten.  I  have  bought 
as  many  volumes  as  contain  about  an  hundred  and  fifty  sermons, 
which  I  will  put  in  a  box,  and  get  Mr.  Mathias  to  send  him'.  I 
shall  add  a  letter. 

Nichols's  Zz/.  Anec,  ix.  2.     He  was  '  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 

a  member  of  Johnson's  Essex  Head  zuc//,  page  643. 

Club  (Zz/i?,  iv.  254),  and  lived  at  21,  "  He  wrote   four  days  later: — 'I 

Portland  Place,  the  house  at  present  am  sorry  that  Mr.  Porter  has  not  had 

occupied    by    Mr.    Alexander    Mac-  his  box  ;  but  by  sending  it  to   Mr. 

millan,  the  publisher.     Here  it  was  Mathias,  who  very  readily  undertook 

that  Johnson  dined  with  him.  the   conveyance,    I    did  the    best    I 

We 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mts.  TJirak.        .  135 

We  have  been  lately  much  alarmed  at  Mr.  Thrale's.  He  has 
had  a  stroke,  like  that  of  an  apoplexy ;  but  he  has  at  last  got  so 
well  as  to  be  at  Bath,  out  of  the  way  of  trouble  and  business,  and 
is  likely  to  be  in  a  short  time  quite  well.  I  hope  all  the  Lichfield 
ladies  are  quite  well,  and  that  every  thing  is  prosperous  among 
them. 

A  few  weeks  ago  I  sent  you  a  little  stuff  gown,  such  as  is  all 
the  fashion  at  this  time.  Yours  is  the  same  with  Mrs.  Thrale's, 
and  Miss  bought  it  for  us.  These  stuffs  are  very  cheap,  and  are 
thought  very  pretty. 

Pray  give  my  compliments  to  Mr.  Pearson,  and  to  every  body, 
if  any  such  body  there  be,  that  cares  about  me. 

I  am  now  engaged  about  the  rest  of  the  Lives,  which  I  am 
afraid  will  take  some  time,  though  I  purpose  to  use  despatch  ; 
but  something  or  other  always  hinders.  I  have  a  great  number 
to  do,  but  many  of  them  will  be  short. 

I  have  lately  had  colds ;  the  first  was  pretty  bad,  with  a  very 
troublesome  and  frequent  cough  ;  but  by  bleeding  and  physic  it 
was  sent  away.  I  have  a  cold  now,  but  not  bad  enough  for 
bleeding. 

F'or  some  time  past,  and  indeed  ever  since  I  left  Lichfield  last 
year,  I  have  abated  much  of  my  diet,  and  am,  I  think,  the  better 
for  abstinence.  I  can  breathe  and  move  with  less  difficulty;  and 
I  am  as  well  as  people  of  my  age  commonly  are.  I  hope  we 
shall  see  one  another  again  some  time  this  year. 

I  am,  dear  love, 

Your  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

657. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale '. 
Dear  Madam, 

On  Sunday  I  dined  with  poor  Lawrence,  who  is  deafer  than 

ever^.     When  he  was  told  that  Dr.  Moisy  visited  Mr.  Thrale,  he 

could.'     Life^  iv.    89.     For  Mathias  in  January  of  this  year.     Z//t',  iii.418. 

see   ante,   i.    159,   n.   4,   and   Early  Two   years   later  Johnson  wrote: — 

Diary  of  Fraiices  Burney,  ii.  307,  9.  '  Poor  Lawrence  has  almost  lost  the 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  98.  sense  of  hearing  ;  and  I  have  lost  the 

"  Dr.  Lawrence  had  lost  his  wife  conversation  of  a  learned,  intelligent, 

^  enquired. 


1.^.6 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


enquired,  for  what?  and  said  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  done, 
which  Nature  would  not  do  for  herself.  On  Sunday  evening  I 
was  at  Mrs.  Vesey's,  and  there  was  enquiry  about  my  master,  but 
I  told  them  all  good.  There  was  Dr.  Barnard  of  Eaton,  and  we 
made  a  noise  all  the  evening  ;  and  there  was  Pepys,  and  Wraxal 
till  I  drove  him  away  '.  And  I  have  no  loss  of  my  mistress,  w^ho 
laughs,  and  frisks,  and  frolicks  it  all  the  long  day,  and  never  thinks 
of  poor  Colin  '^. 

If  Mr.  Thrale  will  but  continue  to  mend,  we  shall,  I  hope,  come 
together  again,  and  do  as  good  things  as  ever  we  did  ;  but  per- 
haps you  will  be  made  too  proud  to  heed  me,  and  yet,  as  I  have 
often  told  you,  it  will  not  be  easy  for  you  to  find  such  another. 

Queeney  has  been  a  good  girl,  and  wrote  me  a  letter  ;  if  Burney 


and  communicative  companion,  and 
a  friend  whom  long  familiarity  has 
much  endeared.  Lawrence  is  one  of 
the  best  men  whom  I  have  known.^ — 
Nosfrunt  omnium  miserere  Deus! 
Life,  iv.  143. 

^  For  Bennet  Langton's  account  of 
this  evening  see  Life,  iii.  424.  Dr. 
Barnard  was  Provost  of  Eton  College. 
'  He  was,'  said  Johnson,  '  the  only 
man  that  did  justice  to  my  good 
breeding.'  Piozzi's  Anecdotes,  p.  36. 
Pepys,  afterwards  Sir  William  Weller 
Pepys,  Baronet,  was  a  Master  in 
Chancery.  His  second  son  became 
Lord  Chancellor  and  Earl  of  Cotten- 
ham.  Samuel  Pepys,  the  author  of 
the  Diary,  was  of  the  same  family. 
Burke's  Peerage,  article  Cottenham. 
Johnson  speaking  of  Pepys,  'when 
they  had  been  disputing  about  the 
classics  for  three  hours  together  one 
morning  at  Streatham,  said  :  —  "I 
knew  the  dog  was  a  scholar ;  but 
that  he  had  so  much  taste  and  so 
much  knowledge  I  did  not  believe.  I 
might  have  taken  Barnard's  word 
though,  for  Barnard  would  not  lie."  ' 
Piozzi's  Anecdotes,  p.  142.  Pepys, 
when  he  was  eighty-four  years  old, 
told    Mme.    D'Arblay   that    he    and 


Hannah  More  were  the  only  sur- 
vivors of  the  original  set  of  the  Bas 
Bleu.  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney,  ii. 
263.  Wraxall  was  the  author  of  the 
Historical  Memoirs  of  My  Own  Time. 
He  was  perhaps  thinking  of  this 
evening  when  he  wrote  : — '  Those 
whom  Johnson  could  not  always 
vanquish  by  the  force  of  his  intellect, 
by  the  depth  and  range  of  his  argu- 
ments, and  by  the  compass  of  his 
gigantic  faculties,  he  silenced  by 
rudeness  ;  and  I  have  myself  more 
than  once  stood  in  the  predicament 
which  I  here  describe.  Yet  no  sooner 
was  he  withdrawn,  and  with  him  had 
disappeared  these  personal  imperfec- 
tions, than  the  sublime  attainments 
of  his  mind  left  their  full  effect  on 
the  audience  :  for  such  the  whole 
assembly  might  be  in  some  measure 
esteemed  while  he  was  present.' 
Memoi?-s,  ed.  1S15,  i.  147. 

"  '  Then  to  her  new  love  let  her  go  ; 
And  deck  her  in  golden  array  ; 
Be  finest  at  every  fine  show 
And  frolic  it  all  the  long  day.' 

ROWE.  Colin' s  Complaint.  Camp- 
bell's British  Poets,  ed.  1845,  P-  334- 
See  post,  p.  139,  n.  i. 

said 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  M7'S.  Thrale. 


137 


said  she  would  write,  she  told  you  a  fib.  She  writes  nothing  to 
me.  She  can  write  home  fast  enough.  I  have  a  good  mind  not 
to  let  her  know,  that  Dr.  Bernard  ',  to  whom  I  had  recommended 
her  novel,  speaks  of  it  with  great  recommendation ;  and  that  the 
copy  which  she  lent  me,  has  been  read  by  Dr.  Lawrence  three 
times  over.  And  yet  what  a  gypsey  it  is.  She  no  more  minds 
me,  than  if  I  were  a  Brangton  ^.  Pray  speak  to  Oueeney  to  write 
again. 

I  have  had  a  cold  and  a  cough,  and  taken  opium,  and  think  I 
am  better.  We  have  had  very  cold  weather  ;  bad  riding  weather 
for  my  master,  but  he  will  surmount  it  all.  Did  Mrs.  Browne 
make  any  reply  to  your  comparison  of  business  with  solitude,  or 
did  you  quite  down  her^?     I  am  much  pleased  to  think  that 


'  Dr.  Barnard. 

^  Miss  Burney  writes  on  April  13: — 
'  Dr.  Johnson  has  sent  a  bitter  re- 
proach to  Mrs.  Thrale  of  my  not 
writing  to  him,  for  he  has  not  yet 
received  a  scrawl  I  have  sent  him. 
He  says  Dr.  Barnard,  the  Provost  of 
Eton,  has  been  singing  the  praises  of 
my  book.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
i.  323.  The  Branghtons  are  the 
family  of  a  silversmith  of  Snow  Hill, 
described  in  Miss  Burney's  Evelina, 
Letter  xvii.  In  her  Memoirs  of  Dr. 
Burney,  ii.  193,  she  describes  a  visit 
Bosvvell  paid  to  Streatham  soon  after 
Evelina  had  been  published.  At 
lunch  he  had  left  his  seat  and  placed 
himself  behind  Johnson's  chair. 
'  The  Doctor  turned  angrily  round 
upon  him,  and  clapping  his  hand 
rather  loudly  upon  his  knee  said  in  a 
tone  of  displeasure,  "What  do  you 
do  there,  Sir  ?  Go  to  the  table,  Sir." 
Boswell  presently  recollected  some- 
thing that  he  wished  to  exhibit,  and 
was  running  away  in  its  search,  when 
the  Doctor  calling  after  him  said, 
"What  are  you  thinking  of  Sir? 
Why  do  you  get  up  before  the  cloth 
is  removed  ?  Come  back  to  your 
place,  Sir."     Again,  and   with  equal 


obsequiousness,  Mr.  Boswell  did  as 
he  was  bid  ;  when  the  Doctor, 
pursing  his  lips,  not  to  betray  rising 
risibility,  muttered  half  to  himself  : — 
"  Running  about  in  the  middle  of 
meals  !  One  would  take  you  for  a 
Branghton  !  "  "A  Branghton,  Sir  ? " 
repeated  Mr.  Boswell  with  earnest- 
ness. "  What  is  a  Branghton,  Sir  ?  " 
"  Where  have  you  lived.  Sir,"  cried 
the  Doctor  laughing,  "  and  what  com- 
pany have  you  kept  not  to  know 
that .'  "  Mr.  Boswell,  now  doubly 
curious,  yet  always  apprehensive  of 
falling  into  some  disgrace  with  Dr. 
Johnson,  said  in  a  low  tone  to  Mrs. 
Thrale  :— "  Pray,  Ma'am,  what's  a 
Branghton  ?  Do  me  the  favour  to 
tell  me.  Is  it  some  animal  here- 
abouts ?  "  Mrs.  Thrale  only  laughed 
heartily,  but  without  answering.  But 
Mr.  Seward  cried: — "I'll  tell  you, 
Boswell,— I'll  tell  you — if  you  will 
walk  with  me  into  the  paddock  ;  only 
let  us  wait  till  the  table  is  cleared  : 
or  I'll  shall  be  taken  for  a  Branghton 
too."  ' 

Boswell  forgot  to  record  this  scene 
in  the  Life. 

'  Mrs.  Thrale  writing  to  Johnson 
on  May  9,  says:     '  ^^'hy  Mrs.  Browne 

Mrs.  Cotton 


I  ^8  To  Mrs.  Tkrale.  [a.d.  1780. 


Mrs.  Cotton  thinks  me  worth  a  frame,  and  a  place  upon  her  wall. 
Her  kindness  was  hardly  within  my  hope,  but  time  does  wonder- 
ful things.  All  my  fear  is,  that  if  I  should  come  again,  my  print 
would  be  taken  down.     I  fear  I  shall  never  hold  it. 

Who  dines  with  you  ?  Do  you  see  Dr.  Woodward  or  Dr.  Har- 
rington '  ?  Do  you  go  to  the  house  where  they  write  for  the 
myrtle  ^  ?  You  are  at  all  places  of  high  resort,  and  bring  home 
hearts  by  dozens  ;  while  I  am  seeking  for  something  to  say  about 
men  of  whom  I  know  nothing  but  their  verses,  and  sometimes 
very  little  of  them.  Now  I  have  begun,  however,  I  do  not  de- 
spair of  making  an  end.  Mr.  Nicholls  holds  that  Addison  is  the 
most  taking  of  all  that  I  have  done.  I  doubt  they  will  not  be 
done  before  you  come  away. 

Now  you  think  yourself  the  first  writer  in  the  world  for  a  letter 
about  nothing.  Can  you  write  such  a  letter  as  this  ?  So  mis- 
cellaneous, with  such  noble  disdain  of  regularity,  like  Shake- 
speare's works  ;  such  graceful  negligence  of  transition,  like  the 
ancient  enthusiasts  ?  The  pure  voice  of  nature  and  of  friendship. 
Now  of  whom  shall  I  proceed  to  speak?  Of  whom  but  Mrs. 
Montague?  Having  mentioned  Shakespeare  and  Nature,  does 
not  the  name  of  Montague  force  itself  upon  me^?     Such  were 

should   be   called  a    Methodist  you  pole's  Letters,  vi.  171.     Miss  Burney 

must  tell  ;  for  'tis  considered  always  records  in  her  Diary  at  this  time  : — 

a  term  of  reproach,  I  trust  ;  because  '  Do  you  know  now   that,  notwith- 

I  never  yet  did  hear  that  any  one  standing   Bath-Easton   is    so   much 

person  called  himself  a  Methodist.'  laughed  at  in  London,  nothing  here 

Piozzi  Letters,  \\.\\<^.     Y  ox  downing  is   more   tonish    than  to  visit  Lady 

see  ante,  ii.  "]■},,  n.  6.  Miller.       She    is    a   round,    plump, 

'  'Dr.Woodwardcalled  this  morn-  coarse-looking  dame  of  about  forty, 

ing.     He  is  a  physician  here,  and  a  and  while  all  her  aim  is  to  appear  an 

chatty,  agreeable  man.   At  dinner  we  elegant   woman   of  fashion,  all  her 

had  Dr.  Harington,anotherphysician.  success  is  to  seem  an  ordinary  woman 

It  is  his   son  who   published  those  in  very  common  life,  with  fine  clothes 

remains   of  his   ancestor.    Sir  John  on.'      Mme.     D'Arblay's     Diary,    i, 

Harington,  under  the  title  of  Niigce  364. 

AtitiqiiO!.^     Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ^  Mr.  Croker  takes  this  humorous 

i.  317,  341.     See  Z//t',  iv.  1 80.  passage   as   serious    praise.     '  Com- 

^  Lady  Miller  '  held  a  Parnassus-  pare,'    he    writes,    'this    with    two 

fair  every  Thursday  '  at  her  villa  at  former  phrases  in  which  Shakespeare 

Bath-Easton.       '  A     Roman     vase,  and  Mrs.  Montagu   are  mentioned, 

dressed     with     pink     ribands     and  and  wonder  at  the  inconsistencies  to 

myrtles,  received  the  poetry.'     W'al-  which  the  greatest  genius   and   the 

the 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


139 


the  transitions  of  the  ancients,  which  now  seem  abrupt,  because 
the  intermediate  idea  is  lost  to  modern  understandings.  I  wish 
her  name  had  connected  itself  with  friendship  ;  but,  ah  Colin, 
thy  hopes  are  in  vain '.  One  thing  however  is  left  me,  I  have 
still  to  complain  - ;  but  I  hope  I  shall  not  complain  much  while 
you  have  any  kindness  for  me,     I  am, 

Dearest  and  dearest  Madam, 
Your,  &c., 
London,  April  II,  1780.  SaM:  JoHNSON. 

You  do  not  date  your  letters  ^. 

658. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dearest  Madam,  April  15, 1780. 

I  did  not  mistake  Dr.  Woodward's  case  ;   nor  should  have 


highest  spirit  may  be  reduced ! 
Perhaps  Johnson's  original  disposi- 
tion to  depreciate  Mrs.  Montagu 
may  have  arisen  from  his  having 
heard  that  she  thought  Rasselas  an 
opiate  {Carter's  Letters,  iii.  io8). 
His  later  praise  was  no  doubt  pro- 
duced by  her  charity  to  Mrs. 
Williams.  This,  though  it  may  ex- 
plain, does  not  excuse  the  incon- 
sistencies.' Croker's  Bostvell,  p.  644. 
It  almost  passes  belief  that  such 
nonsense  as  this  should  have  been 
written  by  a  man  of  intelligence,  and 
should  have  been  repeated  in  suc- 
ceeding editions.  Johnson  despised 
Mrs.  Montagu's  Essay  on  Shakespeare 
because  it  is  as  worthless  as  it  is  pre- 
tentious. 

'  'What  though    I    have   skill   to 
complain, 
Though  the  Muses  my  temples 
have  crown'd ; 
What  though,  when  they  hear  my 
soft  strain. 
The  virgins  sit  weeping  around  ? 
Ah,  Colin  !  thy  hopes  are  in  vain, 
Thy  pipe  and  thy  laurel  resign. 
Thy  false  one  inclines  to  a  swain 


Whose   music   is   sweeter  than 
thine.' 

ROWE.  Campbell's  British  Poets, 
ed.  1845,  p.  334. 

As  early  as  September,  1778,  John- 
son said  that  he  believed  that  he  was 
not  in  Mrs.  Montagu's  good  graces. 
Life,  iv.  64,  n.  i.  In  1781  his  Life  of 
Lyttelton  '  produced  a  declaration  of 
war  against  him  from  her.'  He  said, 
'  Mrs.  Montagu  has  dropped  me. 
Now,  Sir,  there  are  people  whom  one 
should  like  very  well  to  drop,  but 
would  not  wish  to  be  dropped  by.' 
Id.  iv.  64,  73.  Miss  Burney,  writing 
to  him  on  November  19, 1783,  recalls 
a  saying  of  his  about  her  outcry. 
'  What,  as  you  said  of  a  certain  great 
lady,  signifies  the  barking  of  a  lap- 
dog,  if  once  the  lion  puts  out  his 
paw? '  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney,  ii.  357. 

^  Johnson,  no  doubt  quoting  Rowe, 
wrote,  '  I  have  skill  to  complain.' 

^  Johnson  himself  in  early  life  had 
not  always  been  careful  to  date  his 
letters.  Lije,  i.  122,  3.  He  often 
urges  Mrs.  Thrale  to  date  hers,  but 
with  no  result. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  102. 

wanted 


140 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


wanted  any  explanation.  But  broken  '  is  a  very  bad  word  in 
the  city. 

Here  has  just  been  with  me  »  *  ♦  » 2,  who  has  given — What 
has  he  given  ?  Nothing,  I  beHeve,  gratis.  He  has  given  fifty- 
seven  lessons  this  week.     Surely  this  is  business. 

I  thought  to  have  finished  Rowe's  life  to-day,  but  I  have  five 
or  six  visitors  who  hindered  me  ;  and  I  have  not  been  quite  well. 
Next  week  I  hope  to  dispatch  four  or  five  of  them. 

It  is  a  great  delight  to  hear  so  much  good  of  all  of  you.  Fanny  ^ 
tells  me  good  news  of  you,  and  you  speak  well  of  Fanny;  and  all 
of  you  say  what  one  would  wish  of  my  master.  And  my  sweet 
Queeney,  I  hope  is  well.  Does  she  drink  the  waters?  One  glass 
would  do  her  as  much  good  as  it  does  her  father  ■*. 


You  and  Mrs.  M must  keep  Mrs. 


#      »      * 


*  about  you  ;  and 


try  to  make  a  wit  of  her  ^.  She  will  be  a  little  unskilful  in  her 
first  essays  ;  but  you  will  see  how  precept  and  example  will 
bring  her  forwards. 

Surely  it  is  very  fine  to  have  your  powers.  The  wits  court 
you,  and  the  Methodists  love  you  ^,  and  the  whole  world  runs 
about  you  ;  and  you  write  me  word  how  well  you  can  do  without 
me :  and  so,  go  thy  ways  poor  Jack  ^. 

That  sovereign  ^/(Tz^i-  of  water  is  the  great  medicine  ;  and  though 
his  legs  are  too  big,  yet  my  master  takes  a  glass  of  water.  This 
is  bold  practice.  I  believe,  under  the  protection  of  a  glass  of 
water  drank  °  at  the  pump,  he  may  venture  once  a-week  upon  a 
stew'd  lamprey^. 


'  '  The  King's  grown  bankrupt,  like 
a  broken  man.' 
Richard  11,  Act  ii.  sc.  i.  1.  257. 

""  Perhaps  Dr.  Burney. 

^  Miss  Rurney. 

*  Mrs.  Thrale  wrote  in  reply  : — '  I 
think  the  one  glass  of  water  which 
you  scorn  so  has  an  effect  [on  Mr. 
Thrale],  and  that  not  a  good  one—  it 
gives  dizziness.'      Piozzi  Letttns,  ii. 

131- 
^  Mrs.    Piozzi   fills   up  the  blanks 

with    the    names    of    Montagu   and 

Byron.     Hayward's  Piozz!,  i.  319, 


*  Ante,  ii.  137,  ;/.  3. 

'  'C^/^Jack.'     Ante,  ii.  125,  n.  2. 

*  Johnson  in  his  Dictionary  gives 
drunk  and  drunken  as  the  past 
participle  oi to  drink  ;  but  in  a  quota- 
tion which  he  gives  from  Arbuthnot 
we  find  '  he  had  drank.' 

''  Lampreys,  it  should  seem,  were 
a  favourite  dish  with  Mr.  Thrale. 
Mrs.  Piozzi  says  that  when  Johnson 
once  urged  temperance, '  he  answered 
him  only  by  inquiring  when  lamprey 
season  would  come  in.'  Hayward's 
Piozzi,  i.  303. 

I  wish 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mvs.  Tkrak.  141 

I  wish  you  all  good  ;  yet  know  not  what  to  wish  you  which 
you  have  not.     ]\Iay  all  good  continue  and  increase. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

659. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 

Dear  Madam,  London,  April  18,  1780. 

Of  the  petticoat  government  I  had  never  heard  ^.  Of  the 
Shakespeare,  I  was  once  told  by  Miss  Lawrence ;  and  that  is  all 
that  I  know  of  it.  I  have  not  seen  nor  heard  of  any  body  that 
has  seen  the  wonders.  You  may  be  sure  I  should  tell  you  any 
thing  that  would  gratify  your  curiosity,  and  furnish  you  for  your 
present  expences  of  intellectual  entertainment.  But  of  this  dra- 
matick  discovery  I  know  nothing  ■'. 

I  cannot  see  but  my  master  may  with  stubborn  regularity 
totally  recover.  But  surely,  though  the  invasion  has  been  re- 
pelled from  life,  the  waste  it  has  made  will  require  some  time 
and  much  attention  to  repair  it.  You  must  not  grow  weary  of 
watching  him,  and  he  must  not  grow  impatient  of  being  watched. 

Pray,  of  what  wonders  do  you  tell  me  ?  You  make  verses,  and 
they  are  read  in  publick,  and  I  know  nothing  about  them.  This 
very  crime,  I  think,  broke  the  link  of  amity  between  Richardson 

and   Miss  M "",  after  a  tenderness  and  confidence  of  many 

years.  However,  you  must  do  a  great  deal  more  before  I  leave 
you  for  Lucan^  or  Montague,  or  any  other  charmer ;  if  any  other 
charmer  would  have  me. 

I  am  sorry  that  you  have  seen  Mrs.  W ^.     She  and  her 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  104.  "  '  Miss  Mulso.'  Baretti.  Miss 
"  Johnson  refers  to  petticoat  Mulso  is  better  known  as  '  the  ad- 
government,  post,  pp.  151,  2.  It  is  mirable  Mrs.  Chapone.'  She  was 
possible  that  some  political  pamphlet  one  of  the  literary  ladies  who  sat  at 
had  lately  been  brought  out  under  Richardson's  feet.  I  cannot  find  any 
that  title,  in  imitation  of  one  by  John  account  of  this  quarrel  in  Richard- 
Dunton  in  1702.  son's    Correspondence.,   ed.    by    Mrs. 

^  Perhaps  '  the  Shakespeare  '  was  Barbauld. 

Malone's  Supplement  to  the  Edition  ^  Lady  Lucan.     Atite,  ii.  65. 

of  Shakespeare's  Plays  by   Samuel  *  Most   probably   the    lady   men- 

Johnson  and  George  Steevens,  pub-  tioned  ante,  ii.  128. 
lished  this  year. 

husband 


142 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


husband  exhibited  two  very  different  appearances  of  human 
nature.  But  busy,  busy,  still  art  thou  '.  He  prevailed  on  himself 
to  treat  her  with  great  tenderness  ;  and  to  show  how  little  sense 
will  serve  for  common  life,  she  has  passed  through  the  world  with 
less  imprudence  than  any  of  her  family. 

Sir  Philip's  bill  has  been  rejected  by  the  Lords.  There  waSj 
I  think,  nothing  to  be  objected  to  it,  but  the  time  at  which  it 
was  proposed,  and  the  intention  with  which  it  was  projected.  It 
was  fair  in  itself,  but  tended  to  weaken  government  when  it  is 
too  weak  already  ^. 

*  *  *  *  has  no  business  about  you,  but  to  be  taught.  Poor 
B 's  ^  tenderness  is  very  affecting.     Comfort  her  all  you  can. 


I  sincerely  wish  her  well.     Declining  life  is  a  very  awful  scene. 


'  '  But  busy,  busy  still  art  thou 
To  bind  the  loveless,  joyless  vow, 
The  heart  from  pleasure  to  delude, 
To  join  the  gentle  to  the  rude.' 
A  Song.     Thomson's  Works,  ed. 
1775,  ii.  268.     It  is  Fortune  who  is 
so  cruelly  busy. 

-  Miss  Burney  records  in  February 
1779  that  one  day  at  Streatham  Sir 
Philip  J.  Clerk,  '  a  professed  minority 
man,'  described  '  a  bill  he  had  in 
agitation  against  contractors.  Dr. 
Johnson  at  first  scoffed  at  it;  Mr. 
Thrale  betted  a  guinea  it  would  not 
pass,  and  Sir  Philip  that  he  should 
divide  a  hundred  and  fifty  upon  it. 
Dr.  Johnson  having  made  more 
particular  inquiries  into  its  merits 
first  softened  towards  it,  and  then 
declared  it  a  very  rational  and  fair 
bill,  and  joined  with  Mrs.  Thrale  in 
soliciting  Mr.  Thrale's  vote.  Sir 
Philip  was  quite  delighted.  He 
opened  upon  politics  more  amply, 
and  declared  his  opinions,  which 
were  so  much  bordering  upon  the 
republican  principles  that  Dr.  John- 
son suddenly  took  fire  ;  he  called 
back  his  recantation,  and  begged 
Mr.  Thrale  not  to  vote  for  the  bill. 
"  It  ought,"  said  he,  "  to  be  opposed 
by   all   honest   men.     In   itself  and 


considered  simply,  it  is  equitable,  and 
I  would  forward  it ;  but  when  we 
find  what  a  faction  it  is  to  support  and 
encourage,  it  ought  not  to  be  listened 
to.  All  men  should  oppose  it  who 
do  not  wish  well  to  sedition."  '  Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  192.  The  bill, 
which  is  known  as  the  Contractors' 
Bill,  was  to  restrain  any  member  of 
parliament  from  being  concerned  in 
any  Government  contract  unless  the 
contract  were  made  at  a  public 
bidding.  Leave  to  bring  it  in  was 
carried  by  158  to  143,  so  that  Sir 
Philip  won  his  guinea.  It  was  lost 
however  upon  the  motion  for  referring 
it  to  a  Committee.  Pari.  Hist.,  xx. 
124.  The  following  year  it  was 
carried  without  a  division,  but  it  was 
lost  in  the  Lords.  Ann.  Reg.,  17S0,  i. 
153,  181.  It  was  brought  in  again  in 
March,  1782,  and  was  carried  through 
both  Houses.  Ann.  Reg.,  1782,  i. 
308,  and  Chitty's  Statutes,  iv.  1 124, 
ed.  1880,  where  the  date  is  wrongly 
given  as  1749.  In  iSoi  after  the 
Union  a  similar  provision  was  made 
for  Ireland  by  41  George  III,  c.  52, 
sec.  4. 

^  Probably  Mrs.  Byron.  Ante,  ii. 
121,  n.  2.  See  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  i.  317,  331- 

Please 


Aetat.  70.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor. 


H3 


Please  to  tell  Mr.  Thrale,  that  I  think  I  grow  rather  less ;  and 
that  I  was  last  week  almost  dizzy  with  vacuity.      I  repeat  my 
challenge  to  alternate  diet ' ;  and  doubt  not  but  both  of  us,  by 
adhering  to  it,  may  live  more  at  ease,  and  a  much  longer  time. 
Though  I  am  going  to  dine  with  Lady  Craven^, 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

660. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor^. 
Dear  Sir, 

The  quantity  of  blood  taken  from  you  appears  to  me  not 


'  The  challenge  has  not  been  given 
in  any  previous  letter.  Each,  I  con- 
jecture, was  to  abstain  from  animal 
food,  every  other  day.  See  post,  pp. 
147,  164,  181. 

^  '  The  beautiful,  gay  and  fascinat- 
ing Lady  Craven,'  as  Boswell  calls 
her.  '  Lord  Macartney,'  he  adds, 
'  told  me  that  he  met  Johnson  at  her 
house,  and  that  he  seemed  jealous  of 
any  interference.  "  So  (said  his  Lord- 
ship smiling)  I  kept  back."'  Life,  iii. 
22.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the 
fourth  Earl  of  Berkeley,  and  wife 
first  of  the  sixth  Lord  Craven  and 
afterwards  of  the  Margrave  of 
Anspach.  In  1825  she  published  her 
Memoirs.  Walpole's  Letters,  ix.  75, 
n.  I. 

^  First  published  in  the  Catalogue 
of  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison's  Autographs, 

ii.  343- 

This    Letter,   though    it   is   dated 

1778,  must  have  been  written  in  1780, 
improbable  as  it  seems  that  John- 
son should  have  fallen  into  such  a 
blunder.  Thrale's  first  attack  was  in 
June,  1779,  when  he  was  in  extreme 
danger.  Ante,  p.  93  ;  Life  of  Johnson, 
iii.  397,  and  Hayward's  Piozzi,  \.  299 
(where  1770  is  a  misprint  for  1779)  ; 
ii.  28.  Johnson  had  the  remission  of 
the  convulsions  which  he  mentions 


on  June  18,  1779.  He  recorded  on 
June  18,  1780: — '  In  the  morning  of 
this  day  last  year  I  perceived  the 
remission  of  those  convulsions  in  my 
breast  which  had  distressed  me  for 
more  than  twenty  years.  I  returned 
thanks  at  church  for  the  mercy 
granted  me,  which  has  now  continued 
a  year.' — Prayers  and  Meditations, 

p.  183. 

Three  days  later  he  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Thrale  : — 

'  It  was  a  twelvemonth  last  Sunday 
since  the  convulsions  in  my  breast 
left  me.  I  hope  I  was  thankful  when 
I  recollected  it ;  by  removing  that 
disorder  a  great  improvement  was 
made  in  the  enjoyment  of  life.'  Post, 
Letter  of  June  21,  1780. 

He  was  at  Ashbourne  on  June  18, 
1779.     Life,  iii.  453. 

On  April  20,  1778,  the  very  day  of 
which  this  letter  bears  the  date,  he 
recorded  : — 

'After  a  good  night,  as  I  am  forced 
to  reckon,  I  rose  seasonably.  .  .  . 
In  reviewing  my  time  from  Easter, 
1777,  I  found  a  very  melancholy  and 
shameful  blank.  So  little  has  been 
done  that  days  and  months  are  with- 
out any  trace.  My  health  has,  indeed, 
been  very  much  interrupted.  My 
nights  have  been  commonly  not  only 

sufficient. 


144 


To  Dr.  Btt7'ney. 


[A.D.  1780. 


sufficient.  Thrale  was  almost  lost  by  the  scrupulosity'  of  his 
physicians,  who  never  bled  him  copiously  till  they  bled  him  in 
despair ;  he  then  bled  till  he  fainted,  and  the  stricture  or 
obstruction  immediately  gave  way  and  from  that  instant  he 
grew  better. 

I  can  now  give  you  no  advice  but  to  keep  yourself  totally 
quiet  and  amused  with  some  gentle  exercise  of  the  mind.  If 
a  suspected  letter  comes,  throw  it  aside  till  your  health  is  re- 
established ;  keep  easy  and  cheerful  company  about  you,  and 
never  try  to  think  but  at  those  stated  and  solemn  times  when 
the  thoughts  are  summoned  to  the  cares  of  futurity,  the  only 
real  cares  of  a  rational  Being. 

As  to  my  own  health  I  think  it  rather  grows  better ;  the 
convulsions  which  left  me  last  year  at  Ashbourne  have  never 
returned,  and  I  have  by  the  mercy  of  God  very  comfortable  nights. 
Let  me  know  very  often  how  you  are,  till  you  are  quite  well. 

I  am,  Sir, 
Your  affectionate  humble  servant, 

London,  April  20,  1778  [?  1780].  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


661. 

To  Dr.  Burney^ 


Mr.  Johnson  received  an  invitation  from  Mrs.  Ord  for  to- 
morrow, and  having  forgotten  her  street,  desires  to  be  informed 


restless,  but  painful  and  fatiguing. 
.  .  .  Some  rcla.\ation  of  my  breast 
has  been  procured,  I  think,  by  opium, 
which,  though  it  never  gives  me 
sleep,  frees  my  breast  from  spasms.' — 
Prayers  and  Meditations,  p.  169. 

'  See  Life,  iv.  5,  //.  2,  for  instances 
of  Johnson's  use  of  scrupulosity, 
which  was  remarked  on  by  Sir 
William  Jones.  Adam  Smith  1  have 
found  using  the  word  in  his  Theory 
of  Moral  Sentiments,  ed.  1801,  ii. 
49,  where  he  describes  the  prudent 
man  as  '  respecting  with  an  almost 


religious  scrupulosity  all  the  estab- 
lished decorums  and  ceremonials  of 
society,'  and  a  second  time,  p.  334, 
where  he  writes  of  '  a  frivolous  and 
weak  scrupulosity  of  conduct.' 

"^  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Millin  Chamberlain  of 
the  Boston  Public  Library,  Boston, 
United  States. 

As  there  is  nothing  to  fix  the  date 
of  this  letter  I  enter  it  here,  because 
in  the  next  letter  Johnson  for  the 
first  time  mentions  his  having  visited 
Mrs.  Ord.     Hannah  More  describes 

where 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


145 


where  she  Hves.     If  Dr.  Burney  goes  to-morrow,  Mr.  Johnson 
will  call  on  him,  and  beg  the  favour  of  going  with  him. 
Wednesday. 

To  D^  Burney — or  any  Burney'. 


662. 

Dear  Madam,  ^o  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Mr.  E ^  and  Mr.  P "^  called    on   me    to-day  with 

your  letter  to  the  electors,  and  another  which  they  had  drawn 
up,  to  serve  in  its  place.  I  thought  all  their  objections  just,  and 
all  their  alterations  proper.  You  had  mentioned  his  sickness  in 
terms  which  gave  his  adversaries  advantage,  by  confirming  the 
report  which  they  already  spread  with  great  industry,  of  his 
infirmity  and  inability.  You  speak,  in  their  opinion,  and  in 
mine,  with  too  little  confidence  in  your  own  interest.  By  fearing, 
you  teach  others  to  fear.  All  this  is  now  avoided,  and  it  is  to 
take  its  chance. 


how,  in  1780,  she  went  to  one  of  that 
lady's  assennblies  at  a  time  when  '  the 
mourning  for  some  foreign  Wilhel- 
mina  Jaquelina  was  not  over.  Every 
human  creature  was  in  deep  mourn- 
ing, and  I,  poor  I,  all  gorgeous  in 
scarlet.  Even  Jacobite  Johnson  was 
in  deep  mourning.'  Life  and  Cor- 
respondence of  Hannah  More,  i.  170. 

'  One  of  the  last  letters  which 
Johnson  wrote  was  on  his  return  to 
London  less  than  a  month  before  his 
death,  in  which  he  says  : — '  Mr.  John- 
son who  came  home  last  night  sends 
his  respects  to  dear  Dr.  Burney  and 
all  the  dear  Burneys,  little  and  great.' 
Life,  iv.  377.  See  also  post,  Letter 
of  November  14,  1781. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  106. 

On  April  6  Dunning's  famous 
motion  '  that  the  influence  of  the 
Crown  has  increased,  is  increasing, 
and  ought  to  be  diminished'  had 
been  carried  by  a  majority  of  18 — 
233  to  215.  '  The  blow  seems  to  me 
decisive,'  wrote  Horace  Walpole  two 

VOL.  II. 


days  later.  Letters,  vii.  348.  On 
the  nth  he  wrote: — 'Religious  pro- 
phets were  more  prudent  than  I  ; 
they  commonly  formed  their  predic- 
tions after  t\e,nis,  not  before.  .  .  .  Not 
but  the  Administration  was  beaten 
again  yesterday  ;  yet  only  by  two.' 
lb.,  p.  349.  On  the  25th,  the  date  of 
Johnson's  letter,  he  wrote  : — '  Dun- 
ning moved  yesterday  to  address  the 
King  that  the  Parliament  might  not 
be  prorogued  or  dissolved  till  the 
demands  of  the  petitions  [respecting 
an  economical  reform,  &c.]  are  satis- 
fied. The  motion  was  rejected  by 
254  to  203.  .  .  .  The  session  will 
probably  end  much  sooner  than  was 
expected.'  lb.,  p.  357.  Parliament 
was  dissolved  in  the  following  Sep- 
tember.    Pari.  Hist.  xxi.  767. 

^  '  Mr.  Evans.'  Baretti.  Post, 
p.  154. 

^  '  Mr.  Perkins.'  Baretti.  See 
Life,  iii.  440,  for  an  address  to  the 
Electors  written  for  Thrale  by  John- 
son. 

How 


146 


To  Mi^s.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


How  do  you  think  I  live  ?  On  Thursday  I  dined  with 
Hamilton',  and  went  thence  to  Mrs.  Ord  ^  On  Friday,  with 
much  company  at  Reynolds's.  On  Saturday,  at  Dr.  Bell's  ^ 
On  Sunday,  at  Dr.  Burney's,  with  your  two  sweets  from  Kensing- 
ton, who  are  both  well  ;  at  night  came  Mrs.  Ord,  Mr.  Harris  "*, 
and  Mr.  Greville  ^  &c.  On  Monday,  with  Reynolds  ^,  at  night 
with  Lady  Lucan  ;  to-day  with  Mr.  Langton  ;  to-morrow  with 
the  Bishop  of   St.  Asaph ^;    on  Thursday  with   Mr.  Bowles^; 

Friday,    ;    Saturday,    at   the    Academy'^;     Sunday,    with 

Mr.  Ramsay  '°. 

T  told  Lady  Lucan  how  long  it  was  since  she  sent  to  me ;  but 
she  said  I  must  consider  how  the  world  rolls  about  her.  She 
seemed  pleased  that  we  met  again  ". 

The  long  intervals  of  starving  I  do  not  think  best  for  Mr. 
Thrale,  nor  perhaps  for  myself,  but  I  knew  not  how  to  attain 
any  thing  better;  and  every  body  tells  me  that  I  am  very  well, 
and  I  think  there  now  remains  not  much  cause  for  complaint : 
but  O  for  a  glass,  once  in  four-and-twenty  hours,  of  warm  water  ! 
Can  warm  water  be  had  only  at  Bath,  as  steam  was  to  be  found 


'  William  Gerard  Hamilton. 

^  Perhaps  it  was  the  evening  de- 
scribed by  Hannah  More.  'I  was 
the  other  night  at  Mrs.  Ord's.  Every- 
body was  there,  and  in  such  a  crowd 
I  thought  myself  well  off  to  be 
wedged  in  with  Mr.  Smelt,  Langton, 
Ramsay  and  Johnson.  Johnson  told 
me  he  had  been  with  the  King  that 
morning,  who  enjoined  him  to  add 
Spenser  to  his  Lives  of  the  Poets. 
I  seconded  the  motion  ;  he  promised 
to  think  of  it,  but  said  the  booksellers 
had  not  included  him  in  their  list  of 
the  poets.'  H.  More's  Memoirs.^  i. 
174.  Of  this  interview  with  the 
King  nothing  more  is  known  than 
we  learn  here. 

3  Probably  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bell,  Pre- 
bendary of  Westminster.  Life,  ii. 
204,  //.  I.    See  ante,  i.  1 18  ;  ii.  62,  n.  2. 

''  '  Hermes'  Harris,  'a  sound  sullen 
scholar,'  but  '  a  prig  and  a  bad  prig.' 
Life,  iii.  245.    Miss  Burney  describes 


him  as  'a  most  charming  old  man.' 
Early  Diary  of  Frances  Burney^  ii. 
97.  Perhaps  this  Sunday  evening  at 
Dr.  Burney's  Johnson  heard  'a  little 
concert,'  as  the  Dean  of  Winchester 
had  heard  one  on  a  Sunday  evening 
a  few  years  earlier,  and  was  not 
shocked.     Lb.  ii.  114. 

^  Richard  Fulke  Greville.  Ante, 
i.  60,  n.  2. 

^  '  Reynolds's  pocket-book  has  "  4. 
Dr.  Johnson,  Lady  Lucan." '  Leslie 
and  Taylor's  Reynolds,  ii.  287.  '4,' 
I  suppose,  is  the  hour  of  the  dinner. 

'  Dr.  Shipley.     Ante,  i.  400. 

^  Johnson  visited  him  in  1783  at 
his  seat  at  Healc,  near  Salisbury. 
Life,  iv.  234. 

'  Post,  p.  150. 

'°  Allan  Ramsay,  the  portrait 
painter,  son  of  Allan  Ramsay,  the 
poet,  a  man  who  could  give  *a 
splendid  dinner.'    Life,  iii.  336. 

"  Atite,  ii.  65,  III. 

only 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mrs.  T/iralc.  147 

only  at  Knightsbridge  '.  Nature  distributes  her  gifts,  they  say, 
variously,  to  show  us  that  we  have  need  of  one  another  ;  and  in 
her  bounty  she  bestowed  warm  water  upon  Bath,  and  condemned 
the  inhabitants  of  other  places,  if  they  would  warm  their  water, 
to  make  a  fire.  I  would  have  the  young  ladies  take  half  a  glass 
every  third  day,  and  walk  upon  it. 

I  not  only  scour  the  town  from  day  to  day,  but  many  visitors 
come  to  me  in  the  morning ;  so  that  my  work  makes  no  great 
progress,  but  I  will  try  to  quicken  it.  I  should  certainly  like  to 
bustle  a  little  among  you,  but  I  am  unwilling  to  quit  my  post 
till  I  have  made  an  end  ^. 

You  did  not  tell  me  in  your  last  letter  how  Mr.  Thrale  goes 
on.  If  he  will  be  ruled,  for  aught  appears,  he  may  live  oti  these 
hundred years^.     Fix  him  when  he  comes  in  alternate  diet. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 
London,  April  25,  1780.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

Now  there  is  a  date  ;  look  at  it. 

663. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dearest  Madam, 

Mr.  Thrale  never  will  live  abstinently^  till  he  can  persuade 

himself  to  abstain  by  rule.     I  lived  on  potatoes  on  Friday,  and 

on  spinach  to-day  ;  but  I  have  had,  I  am  afraid,  too  many  dinners 

'  For  the  glass  of  hot  water,  see  On  the  death  of  Dr.  Swift.     Swift's 
a7ite,  ii.  140.     '  I  knew  a  lady,'  said  Works,  ed.  1803,  xi.  245. 
Johnson,  '  who  came  up   from  Lin-  *  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  109. 
colnshire  to  Knightsbridge  with  one  Boswell  gives  in  the  Life,  iii.  421, 
of    her    daughters,    and    gave    five  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Thrale  to  Johnson, 
guineas  a  week   for   a  lodging  and  dated   April   28   of    this   year,    thus 
a  warm  bath  ;    that  is,  mere  warm  prefacing    it  : — '    shall  present  my 
water.     That,  you  know,  could  not  readers  with  one  of  her  original  letters 
be  had  in  Lincoltishire  !    She  said,  to  him  at  this  time,  which  will  amuse 
it   was   made  either  too  hot  or  too  them  probably  more  than  those  well- 
cold  there.'     Life,  v.  286.  written   but   studied    epistles   which 
^  Of  his  Lives.  she   has   inserted   in  her  collection, 
^  *Had  he  been    ruled,  for  aught  because  it  exhibits  the  easy  vivacity 
appears,  of    their    literary    intercourse.'     He 
He    might    have    lived    these  gives    moreover    part   of  Johnson's 
twenty  years.'  reply — the  letter  in  the  text. 

L  2  of 


148 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D,  1780. 


of  late.  I  took  physick '  too  both  days,  and  hope  to  fast  to- 
morrow. When  he  comes  home,  we  will  shame  him,  and  Jebb^ 
shall  scold  him  into  regularity.  I  am  glad,  however,  that  he 
is  always  one  of  the  company,  and  that  my  dear  Oueeney  is 
again  another.     Encourage,  as  you  can,  the  musical  girl  ^. 

Nothing  is  more  common  than  mutual  dislike  where  mutual 
approbation  is  particularly  expected.  There  is  often  on  both 
sides  a  vigilance  not  over  benevolent ;  and  as  attention  is  strongly 
excited,  so  that  nothing  drops  unheeded,  any  difference  in  taste 
or  opinion,  and  some  difference  where  there  is  no  restraint  will 
commonly  appear,  it  \sic\  immediately  generates  dislike'*. 

Never  let  criticisms  operate  upon  your  face  or  your  mind  ;  it 
is  very  rarely  that  an  author  is  hurt  by  his  criticks  ^.  The  blaze 
of  reputation  cannot  be  blown  out,  but  it  often  dies  in  the  socket  ; 
a  very  few  names  may  be  considered  as  perpetual  lamps  that 
shine  unconsumed.     From  the  author  of  Fitzosborne's  Letters  ^ 


'  By  physick  Johnson  in  these 
Letters  always,  I  think,  means  '  a 
purge.'  In  his  Dictionary  he  defines 
physick^  in  its  third  meaning,  as  '  in 
common  phrase,  a  purge.' 

^  Sir  Richard  Jebb.  Horace  Wal- 
pole  writing  of  him  on  Jan.  29  of  this 
year  says  : — '  Sir  Richard  Jebb  pro- 
nounced the  poor  girl  in  a  consump- 
tion ;  but  he  is  such  a  raven  that  I 
did  not  believe  him,  nor  do.'  Letters^ 
vii.  320.  Miss  Burney  wrote  the 
following  year: — 'Dr.  Johnson  is 
very  good  and  very  clubable,  but  Sir 
R.  Jebb  is  quite  a  scourge  to  me. 
He  is  so  haughty,  so  impracticable  a 
creature.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
ii.  9. 

'  Mrs.  Thrale  had  written  : — '  Poor 
Queeney's  sore  eyes  have  just  re- 
leased her  ;  she  had  a  long  confine- 
ment, and  could  neither  read  nor 
write,  so  my  master  treated  her  very 
good-naturedly  with  the  visits  of  a 
young  woman  in  this  town,  a  taylor's 
daughter,  who  professes  musick,  and 
teaches  so  as  to  give  six  lessons  a 


day  to  ladies,  at  five  and  threepence 
a  lesson.  Miss  Burney  says  she  is 
a  great  performer  ;  and  I  respect  the 
wench  for  getting  her  living  so 
prettily :  she  is  very  modest  and 
pretty-mannered,  and  not  seventeen 
years  old.'     Life,  iii.  422. 

"  Mrs.  Thrale  had  written  :— '  Yes- 
terday's evening  was  passed  at  Mrs. 
Montagu's  :  there  was  Mr.  Melmoth, 
I  do  not  like  him  though,  nor  he  me  ; 
it  was  expected  we  should  have 
pleased  each  other  ;  he  is,  however, 
just  Tory  enough  to  hate  the  Bishop 
of  Peterborough  for  Whiggism,  and 
Whig  enough  to  abhor  you  for 
Toryism.'     lb. 

5  Mrs.  Thrale  had  written  :— '  I 
felt  my  regard  for  you  in  my  face  last 
night  when  the  criticisms  were  going 
on.'  lb.  For  the  silence  with  which 
attacks  should  be  met,  see  Life,  ii. 
61,  71.  4. 

'  Mr.  Melmoth,  'Pliny'  Melmoth 
as  he  was  called.  Ih.  iii.  422,  71.  2  ; 
iv.  272,  n.  4. 

I  cannot 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


149 


I  cannot  think  myself  in  much  danger.  I  met  him  only  once 
about  thirty  years  ago,  and  in  some  small  dispute  reduced  him 
to  whistle  ;  having  not  seen  him  since,  that  is  the  last  impression. 
Poor  Moore  the  fabulist '  was  one  of  the  company. 

Mrs.  Montague's  long  stay,  against  her  own  inclination,  is  very 
convenient.  You  would,  by  your  own  confession,  want  a  com- 
panion ;  and  she  is  par  pluribus,  conversing  with  her  you  may 
ji7id  variety  in  one  ^. 

At  Mrs.  Ord's  I  met  one  Mrs.  B ^  a  travelled  lady,  of 

great  spirit,  and  some  consciousness  of  her  own  abilities.  We 
had  a  contest  of  gallantry  an  hour  long,  so  much  to  the  diversion 
of  the  company,  that  at  Ramsay's  last  night,  in  a  crowded  room, 
they  would  have  pitted  us  again.  There  were  Smelt^  and  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  who  comes  to  every  place  ^;  and  Lord 
Monboddo*^,  and  Sir  Joshua,  and  ladies  out  of  tale. 


'  The    author    of  Fables  for  the 
Female  Sex,  and  of  the  tragedy  of 
The   Gamester,   and    editor   of    The 
World.     Goldsmith,  in  his  Present 
State  of  Polite  Learning  (ch.  x.), 
after    describing    the    sufferings    of 
authors,    continues  : — '  Let    us    not 
then  aggravate  those  natural  incon- 
veniences by  neglect ;  we  have  had 
sufficient  instances  of  this  kind  al- 
ready.    Sale  and  Moore  will  suffice 
for  one  age  at  least.     But  they  are 
dead,  and  their  sorrows  are  over.' 
'  '  For   here  the  false  unconstant 
lover, 
After    a    thousand    beauties 
shown, 
Does  new    surprising    charms 
discover, 
And  finds  variety  in  one.' 

The  Spectator,  No.  470. 
■^  Mrs.  Buller.  Miss  Burney  de- 
scribes her  as  '  tall  and  elegant  in  her 
person  ;  she  is  a  famous  Greek 
scholar,  a  celebrated  traveller  upon 
the  Continent  to  see  customs  and 
manners  ;  and  a  woman  every  way 
singular  for  her  knowledge  and  enter- 


prising way  of  life.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  ii.  243.  H.  C.  Robinson 
describes  her  in  181 1  as  'a  most 
accomplished  lady  of  the  old  school. 
The  poems  of  Scott  and  Southey  she 
has  put  into  her  Index  Expurga- 
torius.  She  cannot  bear  the  irregu- 
larity of  their  versification.'  H.  C. 
Robinson's  Diary,  i.  321.  See  also 
ib.  p.  392. 

■*  Leonard  Smelt  was  sub-governor 
to  the  Prince  of  Wales  (George  IV). 
For  his  '  singular  virtues  and  char- 
acter' see  Walpole's  Memoirs  of 
George  III,  iv.  312.  He  is  often 
mentioned  in  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary. 

^  '  Dr.  Johnson  disapproved  of 
bishops  going  to  routs,  at  least  of 
their  staying  at  them  longer  than 
their  presence  commanded  respect. 
He  mentioned  a  particular  bishop. 
"  Poh !      (said     IMrs.     Thrale)     the 

Bishop  of is  never  minded  at 

a  rout.'"  Life,  iv.  75.  The  Bishop 
of  St.  Asaph  was  most  likely  the  one 
censured. 

'  S&&Ltfe,  v.  74,  for  Johnson's  visit 

The 


150 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D,  1780. 


The  exhibition,  how  will  you  do,  either  to  see  or  not  to  see ! 
The  exhibition  is  eminently  splendid.  There  is  contour,  and 
keeping,  and  grace,  and  expression,  and  all  the  varieties  of  arti- 
ficial excellence  ^  The  apartments  were  truly  very  noble.  The 
pictures,  for  the  sake  of  a  sky  light,  are  at  the  top  of  the  house  ; 
there  we  dined,  and  I  sat  over  against  the  Archbishop  of  York  ^ 


to  Monboddo's  house  in  1773.  '  I 
knew  they  did  not  love  each  other,' 
writes  Boswell.  When  they  met  in 
1784  at  a  friend's  house  Boswell 
observed  that  '  Monboddo  avoided 
any  communication  with  Johnson.' 
lb.  iv.  273,  n.  I.  Beattie  mentions 
'  Monboddo's  hatred  of  Johnson, 
though  he  never  heard  Johnson  say 
anything  severe  of  him.'  Forbes's 
Beattie,  p.  333.  Monboddo's  conceit 
might  have  provoked  ridicule.  Lord 
Hailes  says  in  a  note  : — '  Lord  Mon- 
boddo said  to  me,  23  Dec.  1789,  I 
have  forgotten  more  of  antiquities 
than  any  man  now  living  knows, 
idque  addito  jurainetito  sanxit. '  Hist. 
MSS.  Comm.  1874,  p.  532.  John- 
son moreover  might  have  laughed  at 
him  as  a  wooer,  for  '  he  had  lately 
[written  of  April,  1782]  proposed 
twice,  without  success,  to  Mrs. 
Garrick.'  Leslie  and  Taylor's  Rey- 
nolds, ii.  361. 

'  Mrs.  Thrale  replied  : — '  When 
did  I  ever  plague  you  about  contour, 
and  grace,  and  expression  ?  I  have 
dreaded  them  all  three  since  that 
hapless  day  at  Compeigne,  when  you 
teized  me  so,  and  Mr.  Thrale  made 
what  I  hoped  would  have  proved  a 
lasting  peace.'  Piozsi  Letters,  ii. 
116. 

""  The  Royal  Academy  this  year, 
for  the  first  time,  held  its  Exhi- 
bition in  Somerset  House.  Leslie 
and  Taylor's  Reynolds,  ii.  288. 
Horace  VValpole  wrote  early  in 
May: — 'You  know,  I  suppose,  that 


the  Royal  Academy  at  Somerset 
House  is  opened.  It  is  quite  a 
Roman  palace,  and  finished  in  per- 
fect taste  as  well  as  boundless  ex- 
pense. It  would  have  been  a  glorious 
apparition  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
great  war ;  now  it  is  an  insult  on  our 
poverty  and  degradation.'  Letters, 
vii.  359. 

'  Mr.    Seward    saw    Dr.    Johnson 
presented  to  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
and  described  his  Bow  to  an  Arch- 
BiSHOP,  as  such  a  studied  elabora- 
tion of  homage,  such  an  extension  of 
limb,  such  a  flexion  of  body,  as  have 
seldom  or  ever  been  equalled.'    Life, 
iv.  198.     Jeremy  Bentham,  who  had 
been  under  the  Archbishop  when  he 
was  Master  of  W^estminster  School, 
thus    describes    him  : — '  Our    great 
glory  was  Dr.  Markham ;  he  was  a 
tall  portly  man,  and  "  high  he  held 
his   head."      He   married    a   Dutch 
woman,  who  brought  him  a  consider- 
able fortune.    He  had  a  large  quantity 
of  classical  knowledge.    His  business 
was  rather  in  courting  the  great  than 
in    attending    to    the    school.     Any 
excuse  served  his  purpose  for  desert- 
ing his  post.     He  had  a  great  deal 
of  pomp,  especially  when    he   lifted 
his   hand,    waved    it,    and   repeated 
Latin  verses.     If  the  boys  performed 
their  tasks  well,  it  was  well ;  if  ill,  it 
was   not    the    less   well.     We   stood 
prodigiously  in  awe  of  him  ;  indeed 
he  was  an  object  of  adoration.'   Bent- 
ham's  Works,  X.  30. 

.See 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


151 


See   how    I    live   when    I    am     not     under    petticoat    govern- 
ment'. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  May  i,  1780. 

Mark  that — you  did  not  put  the  year  to  your  la.st^ 


Madam, 
Mr.  P- 


664. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 

Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  May  7,  1780. 
-■*  has  just  been  with  me,  and  has  talked  much 
talk,  of  which  the  result  is,  that  he  thinks  your  presence  neces- 
sary for  a  few  days.  I  have  not  the  same  fulness  of  conviction  ; 
but  your  appearance  would  certainly  operate  in  your  favour,  and 
you  will  judge  better  what  measures  of  diligence  and  of  expence 

are  necessary.     Money,  Mr.  P says,  must  be  spent ;  and  he 

is  right  in  wishing  that  you  be  made  able  to  judge  how  far  it  is 
spent  properly.  Perhaps,  it  is  but  perhaps,  some  desire  that 
I  have  of  seeing  you,  makes  me  think  the  better  of  his  reasons. 

Can  you  leave  Master?     Can  you  appoint  Mrs. governess? 

If  you  can,  the  expence  of  coming  is  nothing,  and  the  trouble 
not  much ;  and  therefore  it  were  better  gratify  your  agents. 
Levy  behaves  well. 

I  dined  on  Wednesday  with  Mr.  Fitzmaurice,  who  almost 
made  me  promise  to  pass  part  of  the  Summer  at  Llewenny^ 
To-morrow  I  dine  with  Mrs.  Southwel^;  and  on  Thursday  with 
Lord    Lucan.     To-night    I    go    to    Miss   Monkton's^     Thus    I 


'  Ante,  ii.  141,  n.  2. 


by  the    Hon.   Thomas  Fitzmaurice, 


She   had    succeeded   in    putting      brother  of   the   Earl   of  Shelburne. 

Pennant's  Wales,  ed.  18 10,  ii.  144. 
For  Johnson's  intimacy  with  the 
Earl  see  Life,  iv.  191.  See  also  ante^ 
ii.  81. 

^  For  the  Southwells  see  ante,  \. 
205,  n.  3. 

^  '  The  lively  Miss  Monckton  (now 
Countess  of  Corke),  who  used  to 
have  the  finest  bit  of  blue  at  the 
house  of  her  mother,  Lady  Galway.' 
Life,  iv.  108.  The  bit  of  blue  is  an 
allusion  to  the  Blue-stocking  Club.  lb. 

scramble, 


the  day  of  the  month — April  28. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  112. 

"  '  Perkins.'     Baretti. 

^  Johnson  with  the  Thrales  had 
stayed  at  Lleweney  Hall  in  Den- 
bighshire in  1774.  It  was  then  the 
residence  of  Mrs.  Thrale's  cousin 
Robert  Cotton,  Life,  v.  435.  In  her 
utter  indifference  to  dates  and  ac- 
curacy she  said  that  it  had  stood  a 
thousand  years.  Hayward's  Piozzi, 
ii.    206.     It    was   afterwards   bought 


152  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1780. 

scramble,  when  you  do  not  quite  shut  me  up  ;  but  I  am  miserably 
under  petticoat  government,  and  yet  am  not  very  weary,  nor 
much  ashamed. 

Pray  tell  my  two  dear  girls  that  I  will  write  to  both  of  them 
next  week  ;  and  let  Burney  know  that  I  was  so  angry — 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 
I  know  of  Mrs.  Desmoulines'  letter '.    It  will  be  a  great  charity. 
Let  me  know  when  you  are  to  come. 

665. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dear  Madam,  Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  May  8,  1780. 

Would  you  desire  better  sympathy — At  the  very  time  when 
you  were  writing,  I  was  answering  your  letter. 

Having  seen  nobody  since   I  saw  Mr.   P ^,  I  have  little 

more  to  say,  than  when  I  wrote  last.  My  opinion  is,  that  you 
should  come  for  a  week,  and  shew  yourself,  and  talk  in  high 
terms  ;  for  it  will  certainly  be  propagated  with  great  diligence, 
that  you  despair  and  desist ;  and  to  those  that  declare  the 
contrary,  it  will  be  answered,  Why  then  do  they  not  appear? 
To  this  no  reply  can  be  made  that  will  keep  your  friends  in 
countenance.  A  little  bustle  and  a  little  ostentation  will  put 
a  stop  to  clamours,  and  whispers,  and  suspicions  of  your  friends, 
and  calumnies  of  your  opponents.  Be  brisk,  and  be  splendid, 
and  be  publick.  You  will  probably  be  received  with  much 
favour ;  and  take  from  little  people  the  opportunity  which  your 
absence  gives  them  of  magnifying  their  services,  and  exalting 
their  importance.  You  may  have  more  friends  and  fewer  ob- 
ligations. 

It  is  always  necessary  to  shew  some  good  opinion  of  those 
whose  good  opinion  we  solicit.  Your  friends  solicit  you  to  come ; 
if  you  do  not  come,  you  make  them  less  your  friends,  by  dis- 
regarding their  advice.  Nobody  will  persist  long  in  helping  those 
that  will  do  nothing  for  themselves. 

'  For  Mrs.  Desmoulines,  see  ante,  "  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  114. 

ii.  42,  «.  2.  ^  '  Perkins.'     Baretti. 

The 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Tkrale. 


153 


The  voters  of  the  Borough  are  too  proud  and  too  Httle 
dependant  to  be  solicited  by  deputies  ;  they  expect  the  gratifica- 
tion of  seeing  the  candidate  bowing  or  curtseying  before  them. 
If  you  are  proud,  they  can  be  sullen'. 

Such  is  the  call  for  your  presence ;  what  is  there  to  withhold 
you?  I  see  no  pretence  for  hesitation.  Mr.  Thrale  certainly 
shall  not  come  ;  and  yet  somebody  must  appear  whom  the  people 
think  it  worth  the  while  to  look  at  ^. 

Do  not  think  all  this  while  that  I  want  to  see  you. — I  dine  on 
Thursday  at  Lord  Lucan's,  and  on  Saturday  at  Lady  Craven's  ; 
and  I  dined  yesterday  with  Mrs.  South wel. 

As  to  my  looks  at  the  Academy,  I  was  not  told  of  them  ;  and 
as  I  remember,  I  was  very  well,  and  I  am  well  enough  now,  and 

'  Dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

666. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^. 

Dear  Madam,  Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  May  9,  1780. 

This  morning  brought  me  the  honour  of  a  visit  from  Sir 

Philip  ■*,  who  has  been  to  survey  Streatham,  and  thinks  it  will  be 

long  before  you  can  return  thither ;  which  he  considers  as  a  loss 

to  himself  of  many  pleasant  days  which  your  residence  might 

have  afforded.      We  then  talked  about  our  mistress,  and ^ ; 

and  I  said  you  had  most  wit,  and  most  literature. 


'  '  A  Borough  election,'  writes  Mrs. 
Piozzi,  'once  showed  me  Mr.  John- 
son's toleration  of  boisterous  mirth. 
A  rough  fellow,  a  hatter  by  trade, 
seeing  his  beaver  in  a  state  of  decay 
seized  it  suddenly  with  one  hand,  and 
clapping  him  on  the  back  with  the 
other,  "Ah,  Master  Johnson."  says 
he,  "this  is  no  time  to  be  thinking 
about  hais."  "  No,  no.  Sir,"  replies 
our  Doctor  in  a  cheerful  tone,  "  hats 
are  of  no  use  now,  as  you  say,  except 
to  throw  up  in  the  air  and  huzza 
with,"  accompanying  his  words  with 
the  true  election  halloo.'      Piozzi's 


Anecdotes,  p.  214. 

^  Johnson  wrote  on  October  17  : — 
'  Mr.  Thrale's  loss  of  health  has  lost 
him  the  election.'     Life,  iii.  442. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  124. 

■*  Sir  Philip  Jennings  Clerk.  Ante, 
ii.  5  n.  2. 

^  '  Mrs.  Montagu  for  a  penny.' 
Baretti.  '  As  to  Mrs.  Montagu  she 
reasons  well,  and  harangues  well,  but 
wit  she  has  none.  Mrs.  Thrale  has 
almost  too  much  ;  for  when  she  is  in 
spirits  it  bursts  forth  in  a  torrent 
almost  overwhelming.'  Mme.  D'Ar- 
blay's  Diary,  i.  335. 

Mr.  Evans 


154  T^o  Mrs.  Tkrale.  [a.d.  1780. 

Mr.  Evans'  brought  me  your  letter,  to  which  I  had  already 
sent  the  answer ;  nor  have  I  any  thing  to  add,  but  that  the  more 
I  reflect,  and  the  more  I  hear,  the  more  I  am  convinced  of  the 
necessity  of  your  presence.  Your  adversaries  will  be  for  ever 
saying,  that  you  despair  of  success,  or  disdain  to  obtain  it  by  the 
usual  solicitation.  Either  of  these  suppositions  generally  re- 
ceived ruins  your  interest,  and  your  appearance  confutes  both. 

Cette  Anne  si  belle, 
Qu'on  vante  si  fort, 
Pourquoi  ne  vient  t'elle  ? 
Vraiment  elle  a  tort. 

While  you  stay  away  your  friends  have  no  answer  to  give. 

Mr.  P ,  as  I  suppose  you  know,  has  refused  to  join  with 

H ^  and  is  thought  to  be  in  more  danger  than  Mr.  Thrale. 

Of 's  letter,  I  would  have  you  not  take  any  notice ;   he 

is  a  man  of  no  character. 

My  Lives  creep  on.  I  have  done  Addison,  Prior,  Rowe, 
Granville,  Sheffield,  Collins,  Pitt,  and  almost  Fenton.  I  design 
to  take  Congreve  next  into  my  hand.  I  hope  to  have  done 
before  you  can  come  home,  and  then  whither  shall  I  go  ^  ? 

What  comes  of  my  dear,  sweet,  charming,  lovely,  pretty, 
little  Queeney's  learning'^.?     This  is  a  sad  long  interruption,  and 

'  Ante,  i.  393,  «.  2.  "  He   was  thinking   of  the    Latin 

^  Mr.  P was  Nathaniel  Polhill,  lessons  which  he  gave   her.      Ante, 

Thrale's  colleague;    H was  Sir  ii.  98,  ;>?.  2.    Miss  Burney  nine  months 

Richard   Hotham.     At  the   close   of  earlier  describes  her  as  'coldly  civil 

the  poll  on  September  15,  the  num-  as  usual.'    Of  her  singing  she  says  : — 

bers  were  : —  '  Her  voice  is  very  sweet,  and  will 

Hotham     .     .     .     1 1 77  improve    with    practice.       She    has 

Polhill  ....     1025  much  to  do,  but  nothing  to   ufido; 

Thrale.     .     .     .       769  how&v&r,''^  Maftca  T  annua,  e  Paniina 

Annual  Register,  1780,  i.  227.  sempre  inancara''"     Eaily  Diary  of 

^  On  August  21  Johnson  wrote  to  Frances  Burney,  ii.  257,  9.     Char- 

Boswell  : — '  I   have  sat   at  home    in  lotte  Burney,  writing  of  her  two  years 

Bolt-court,  all  the  summer,  thinking  later,  says  :^' Miss  Thrale  was  to  my 

to  write  the  Lives,  and  a  great  part  no    small  astonishment  civil  to  me, 

of  the  time  only  thinking.     Several  and  sat  by  me  the  whole  evening. 

of  them,   however,  are  done,  and   I  She  has  taken  it  into  her  head  to  be 

still  think  to  do  the  rest.'     Life,  iii.  civil  to  people  this   winter,  I  hear.' 

435.     They  were  finished  in  March,  lb.  p.  306. 

17S1.     lb.  iv.  34. 

wicked 


Aetat.  70.]      To  the  Revereiid  Thomas   Warlon. 


155 


the  wicked  world   will   make   us   no   allowance,   but  will   call 
us   . 

Lady  Lucan  says,  she  hears  Queeney  is  wonderfully  accom- 
plished, and  I  did  not  speak  ill  of  her. 

Did  I  tell  you  that  Scot  and  Jones  both  offer  themselves  to 
represent  the  University  in  the  place  of  Sir  Roger  Newdigate  ^ 
They  are  struggling  hard  for  what  others  think  neither  of  them 
will  obtain. 

I  am  not  grown  fat.  I  did  thrive  a  little,  but  I  checked  the 
pernicious  growth,  and  am  now  small  as  before. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

667. 

To  THE  Reverend  Thomas  Warton^. 

Sir  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  May  9,  1780. 

I  have  your  pardon  to  ask   for  an  involuntary  fault.     In 

a  parcel  sent  from  Mr.  Boswell  I  found  the  enclosed  letter,  which, 

without  looking  on  the  direction,   I  broke  open  ;  but,  finding 


'  Newdigate,  who  had  been  mem- 
ber since  1751  {Pari.  Hist.  xiv.  76), 
was  retiring.  To  obtain  the  seat 
Jones  '  would,'  he  said,  'have  cheer- 
fully sacrificed  to  it  not  only  an 
Indian  Judgeship  of  six  thousand  a 
year,  but  a  Nabobship  with  as  many 
millions.'  Finding  however  that  he 
had  no  chance  of  success  he  with- 
drew, and  offered  to  support  Dr. 
Scott  (afterwards  Lord  Stowelll. 
Life  of  Sir  W.  Jones,  pp.  216,  228, 
231.  Scott  also  withdrew,  and  Sir 
William  Dolben  and  Francis  Page 
were  elected  without  opposition. 
Jackson's  Oxford  Journal,  Sep- 
tember 16,  1780.  It  is  not  the  only 
time  in  the  history  of  the  University 
that  the  men  of  acres  have  triumphed 
over  the  men  of  learning.  In  the 
Pari.  Hist.  xxi.  780  Newdigate  is 
wrongly  entered  as  elected  in  1780. 
Scott  in  1 801  succeeded  Page, 


Horace  Walpole  wrote  to  Mason  in 
1780: — 'Mr.  Jones,  the  orientalist, 
is  candidate  for  Oxford.  On  Tuesday 
was  se'nnight  Mrs.  Vesey  presented 
him  to  me.  The  next  day  he  sent 
me  an  absurd  and  pedantic  letter, 
desiring  I  would  make  interest  for 
him.  I  answered  it  directly,  and 
told  him  I  had  no  more  connection 
with  Oxford  than  with  the  Antipodes, 
nor  desired  to  have.'  He  adds  : — 
'  The  man,  it  seems,  is  a  staunch 
Whig,  but  ver}^  wrong  -  headed.' 
Letters,  vii.  361.  It  seems  strange 
to  our  notions  that  the  strength  of 
a  staunch  Whig  should  lie,  as  Jones 
said  his  did,  'among  the  non-resi- 
dent voters.'     Life  of  Jones,  p.  224. 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well, page  647. 

For  Thomas  Warton  see  Life,  i. 
270. 

I  did 


1 56         To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Joseph    Wai'ton.   [a.d.  1780. 

I  did  not  understand  it,  soon  saw  it  belonged  to   you.     I   am 

sorry  for  this  appearance  of  a  fault,  but  believe  me  it  is  only  the 

appearance.     I  did  not  read  enough  of  the  letter  to  know  its 

purport. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


668. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Joseph  Warton  '. 
Dear  Sir,  May  23, 1780. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  tell  you  how  much  I  was  obliged  by 
your  useful  memorials.  The  shares  of  Fenton  and  Broome  in  the 
Odyssey  I  had  before  from  Mr.  Spence.  Dr.  Warburton  did  not 
know  them  ^.  I  wish  to  be  told,  as  the  question  is  of  great 
importance  in  the  poetical  world,  whence  you  had  your  intelli- 
gence ;  if  from  Spence,  it  shows  at  least  his  consistency;  if  from 
any  other,  it  confers  corroboration.  If  any  thing  useful  to  me 
should  occur,  I  depend  upon  your  friendship.  Be  pleased  to 
make  my  compliments  to  the  ladies  of  your  house,  and  to  the 
gentleman  that  honoured  me  with  the  Greek  Epigrams,  when 
I  had,  what  I  hope  sometime  to  have  again,  the  pleasure  of 
spending  a  little  time  with  you  at  Winchester^. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obliged 

and  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  First  published  in  Wooll's  Me- 
moirs of  Dr.  IVarton,  page  390. 

-  '  Pope,  weary  of  the  toil,  called 
Fenton  and  Broome  to  his  assistance ; 
and,  taking  only  half  the  work  upon 
himself,  divided  the  other  half  be- 
tween his  partners,  giving  four  books 
to  Fenton  and  eight  to  Broome.'  In 
a  note  '  he  mentions  only  five  books 
as  written  by  the  coadjutors.  ...  A 
natural  curiosity  after  the  real  con- 
duct of  so  great  an  undertaking,  in- 
cited  me    once    to    inquire    of    Dr. 


Warburton,  who  told  me  in  his  warm 
language,  that  he  thought  the  relation 
given  in  the  note  "a  lie";  but  that 
he  was  not  able  to  ascertain  the 
several  shares.  The  intelligence  which 
Ur.  Warburton  could  not  afford  me, 
I  obtained  from  Mr.  Langton,  to 
whom  Mr.  Spence  had  imparted  it.' 
Johnson's  Works,  \\\\.  2't,o.  See  also 
zb.  pp.  56,  273,  i^^. 

^  For  Johnson's  visit,  see  Life,  i. 
496,  n.  2  ;  iii.  367. 

To 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs,  Thrale. 


157 


669. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dear  Madam,  May  23, 1780. 

Your  letter  told  me  all  the  good  news.  Mr.  Thrale  well, 
Queeney  good,  and  yourself  not  so  ill  but  that  you  know  how  to 

be  made  well ;  and  now  is  gone  %  you  have  the  sole  and 

undivided  empire  of  Bath  ;  and  you  talk  to  many  whom  you 
cannot  make  wiser,  and  enjoy  the  foolish  face  of  praise  ^. 

But    •■*    and    you    have    had,    with    all    your     adulations, 

nothing  finer  said  of  you  than  was  said  last  Saturday  night  of 

Burke  and    me.       We  were  at  the  Bishop  of  's,  a  bishop 

little  better  than  your  bishop  ^ ;  and  towards  twelve  we  fell  into 
talk,  to  which  the  ladies  listened,  just  as  they  do  to  you  ;  and 
said,  as  I  heard,  there  is  no  rising  tmless  somebody  will  cry 
fire. 

I  was  last  night  at  Miss  Monkton's  ;  and  there  were  Lady 
Craven  and  Lady  Cranburne,  and  many  ladies  and  few  men. 
Next  Saturday  I  am  to  be  at  Mr,  Pepys's^,  and  in  the  inter- 
mediate time  am  to  provide  for  myself  as  I  can. 

You  cannot  think  how  doggedly  I  left  your  house  on  Friday 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  127. 

Mrs.  Thrale  had  returned  to  Lon- 
don from  Bath  on  electioneering 
business.  '  Let  me  see  you  at  the 
Borough-house  as  soon  as  I  get 
there,'  she  wrote  to  Johnson  on  May 
9.  '  Everybody  says  I  must  come  up 
directly.'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  122. 
Miss  Burney,  who  had  accompanied 
her,  describes  her  as  '  involved  in 
business,  electioneering,  canvassing 
and  letter-writing.'  On  the  morning 
of  their  return  to  Bath,  '  we  rose,' 
she  writes,  '  at  four  o'clock,  and 
when  we  came  down  stairs,  to  our 
great  surprise  found  Dr.  Johnson 
waiting  to  receive  and  breakfast  with 
us.'  They  reached  Bath  that  same 
day.   Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  354. 

-  '  Mrs.  Montagu  we  miss  cruelly.' 
lb.  p.  357. 


^  Pope.  Prologue  to  the  Satires, 
1.  212. 

*  Miss  Burney. 

^  The  first  Bishop  was  most  likely 
the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  and  the 
second  Hinchliffe,  Bishop  of  Peter- 
borough, who  was  at  Bath.  '  He 
adores,  and  is  adored  in  return  by 
Mrs.  Thrale.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  i.  356. 

*  For  Miss  Monckton  see  ante, 
ii.  151,  71.  7,  and  for  Lady  Craven, 
ii.  143.  Lady  Cranboume's  husband 
succeeded  his  father  this  year  as 
seventh  Earl  of  Salisbury.  In  1789 
he  was  created  Marquis.  She  met 
a  miserable  end  in  the  fire  which 
burnt  the  west  wing  of  Hatfield 
House  on  November  27,  1S35.  Her 
grandson  is  the  present  Marquis. 
For  Pepys,  see  ante,  ii.  136,  n.  i. 

My 


158  To  John  Nichols.  [a.d.  1780. 

morning,  and  yet  Mrs.  Abbess  gave  me  some  mushrooms  ;  but 
what  are  mushrooms  without  my  mistress  ? 

My  master  has  seen  his  hand-bill '  ;  will  he  stand  to  it  ? 
I  have  not  heard  a  word  from  the  Borough  since  you  went 
away. 

Dr.  Taylor  is  coming  hastily  to  town,  that  he  may  drive  his 
lawsuit  forward.  He  seems  to  think  himself  very  well.  This 
lawsuit  will  keep  him  in  exercise,  and  exercise  will  keep  him  well- 
It  is  to  be  wished  that  the  law  may  double  its  delays.  If  Dr. 
Wilson  dies,  he  will  take  St.  Margaret's,  and  then  he  will  have 
the  bustle  of  the  parish  to  amuse  him^.  I  expect  him  every 
day. 

I  am,  dear  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

670. 

To  John  Nichols^. 

[?May,  1780.] 

In  reading  Rowe  in  your  edition,  which  is  very  impudently 

called  mine,  I  observed  a  little  piece  unnaturally  and  odiously 

obscene.     I    was  offended,  but   was  still   more  offended    when 

I  could  not  find  it  in  Rowe's  genuine  volumes.     To  admit  it  had 

been  wrong  ;  to  interpolate  it  is  surely  worse.     If  I  had  known 

of  such  a  piece  in  the  whole  collection,  I  should  have  been  angry. 

What  can  be  done  ? 

'  No   doubt   his    Address    to   the  undertaking    directed    by   him :    he 

Electors.     A?ite,  ii.  145.  was  to  furnish   a    Preface  and   Life 

-  For  Dr.  Taylor's  law-suit  in  1776,  to  any  poet  the  booksellers  pleased, 

see   ante,  i.    379.      Dr.   Wilson   had  I  asked  him  if  he  would  do  this  to 

the  living  of  St.  Margaret's,  West-  any  dunce's  works,  if  they  should  ask 

minster.     He  lived  nearly  four  years  him.    JOHNSON.  "Yes,  Sir;  and  jfty 

longer.     Post,  p.  163,  and  Letter  of  he   was    a   dunce.'"     Life,   iii.    137. 

May  13,  1784.  Nichols  says  in  a  note  to  the  Gentle- 

^  First    published    in    the    Gentle-  man's  Magazine,  that   the  piece   of 

man's  Magazifte  for  1785,  page  10.  which  Johnson  complained  'has  not 

Johnson,  it  must  be  remembered,  only  appeared  in  the  Wo7'ks  of  Rowe, 

was  not  the  editor  of  The  English  but  has  been  transplanted  by  Pope 

Poets.     '  The    edition,'    writes    Bos-  into  the  Miscellanies  he  published  in 

well,   '  for   which    he   was    to   write  his   own   name    and   that   of    Dean 

Prefaces    and    Lives,    was    not    an  Swift.' 

To 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mvs.   Tkrale. 


159 


671. 

To  John  Nichols'. 

[May  24,  17S0.] 

Mr.  Johnson  is  obliged  to  Mr.  Nicol  for  his  communication, 
and  must  have  Hammond  again.  Mr.  Johnson  would  be  glad  of 
Blackmore's  Essays  for  a  few  days. 

672. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dear  Madam, 

Here  has  been  Dr.  Lawrence  with  me,  and  I  showed  him  your 
letter  ;  and  you  may  easily  believe  we  had  some  talk  about  my 
master^.  He  said,  however,  little  that  was  new,  except  this, 
which  is  of  great  importance,  that  if  ever  he  feels  any  uncommon 
sensation  in  his  head,  such  as,  heaviness,  pain,  or  noise,  or  giddi- 
ness, he  should  have  immediate  recourse  to  some  evacuation,  and 
thinks  a  cathartick  most  eligible.  He  told  me  a  case  of  a  lady, 
who  said  she  felt  a  dizziness,  and  would  bleed  ;  to  bleed,  how- 
ever, she  neglected,  and  in  a  few  days  the  dizziness  became  an 
apoplexy.  He  says,  but  do  not  tell  it,  that  the  use  of  Bath 
water,  as  far  as  it  did  any  thing,  did  mischief.  He  presses 
abstinence  very  strongly,  as  that  which  must  do  all  that  can  be 
done  ;  and  recommends  the  exercise  of  walking,  as  tending  more 
to  extenuation'*  than  that  of  riding. 

'  First   published   in    the    Getttle-  are  recommended  by  his  language.' 

man!s    Magazine    for     1785,    page  Works,  viii.  43. 

10.  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  135. 

Johnson     says     of     Blackmore's  ^  Mrs.  Thrale  had  written  that '  the 

Essays    that    'they    can    be    com-  one  glass  of  water,' which  Mr.  Thrale 

mended  only  as  they  are  written  for  took  every  day  at  Bath,  caused  dizzi- 

the  highest  and  noblest  purpose,  the  ness.     lb.  ii.  131. 

promotion  of  religion.     Blackmore's  *  Dr.   Norman    Moore,    whom    I 

prose  is  not  the  prose  of  a  poet ;  for  have  consulted  on  this  passage,  in- 

it  is  languid,  sluggish,  and  lifeless  ;  forms   me   that    he   thinks   Johnson 

his   diction    is    neither    daring    nor  means  by  '  extenuation  '  reduction  of 

exact,  his  flow  neither  rapid  nor  easy,  fat.       In   his  DictioJiary  h&  d&fin&s 

and  his  periods  neither  smooth  nor  to  extenuate,  in  its  fifth  meaning,  as 

strong.  His  account  of  wit  will  show  to  make  lean.     See  post,   Letter  of 

with  how  little  clearness  he  is  content  October  27,  1781,  where  it  seems  to 

to  think,  and  how  little  his  thoughts  mean  *  loss  of  flesh.' 

has 


1 60  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1780. 


'  has  let  out  another  pound  of  blood,  and   is  come  to 


town,  brisk  and  vigorous,  fierce  and  fell,  to  drive  on  his  lawsuit. 
Nothing  in  all  life  now  can  be  more  profligater  than  what  he  is  ; 
and  if,  in  case,  that  so  be,  that  they  persist  for  to  resist  him,  he  is 
resolved  not  to  spare  no  money,  nor  no  time  ^.  He  is,  I  believe, 
thundering  away.  His  solicitor  has  turned  him  off;  and  I  think 
it  not  unlikely  that  he  will  tire  his  lawyers.  But  now  don't  you 
talk. 

My  dear  Queeney,  what  a  good  girl  she  is.  Pray  write  to  me 
about  her,  and  let  me  know  her  progress  in  the  world.  Bath  is 
a  good  place  for  the  initiation  of  a  young  lady.  She  can  neither 
become  negligent  for  want  of  observers,  as  in  the  country ;  nor 
by  the  imagination  that  she  lies  concealed  in  the  crowd,  as  in 
London.  Lady  Lucan  told  me,  between  ourselves,  how  much 
she  had  heard  of  Queeny's  accomplishments  ;  she  must  therefore 
now  be  careful,  since  she  begins  to  have  the  public  eye  upon 
her. 

A  lady  has  sent  me  a  vial,  like  Mrs.  Nesbit's^  vial,  of  essence 
of  roses.     What  am  I  come  to  ? 

Congreve,  whom  I  dispatched  at  the  Borough  while  I  was 
attending  the  election"*,  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  little  lives  ;  but 
then  I  had  your  conversation. 

You  seem  to  suspect  that  I  think  you  too  earnest  about  the 
success  of  your  solicitation  :  if  I  gave  you  any  reason  for  that 
suspicion,  it  was  without  intention.  It  would  be  with  great  dis- 
content that  I  should  see  Mr.  Thrale  decline  the  representation 
of  the  Borough,  and  with  much  greater  should  I  see  him  ejected. 
To  sit  in  Parliament  for  Southwark,  is  the  highest  honour  that 
his  station  permits  him  to  attain^;  and  his  ambition  to  attain  it, 

'  Dr.  Taylor.  Attte,  \\.  \^Z.  He  to  Johnson  just  after  her  second  mar- 
was  in  the  habit  of  having  himself  riage,  said,  it  is  stated  : — '  My  second 
bled  periodically.     Life,  iii.  152.  husband   is   a   gentleman,   which   is 

"^  '  This   was    the   elegant   phrase-  more  than  could  be  said  of  my  first.' 

ology  of  that  doctor.'     Baretti.  Miss  Hawkins's  ^/t-w^/rj-,  i.  66.    Bos- 

^  Mrs.  Nesbitt    was   Mr.  Thrale's  well,    where  he   first    speaks  of  Mr. 

sister.     Ante,  i.  219,  n.  3.  Thrale,   after  mentioning  his   great 

^  A7ite,  ii.  157,  n.  i.  wealth,  says  : — 'There  may  be  some 

^  Brewers  had  not  as  yet  been  who  think  that  a  new  system  of  gen- 
made  peers.     Mrs.  Piozzi,  in  a  letter  tility  might  be  established  upon  prin- 

is 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


i6i 


is  surely  rational  and  laudable.  I  will  not  say  that  for  an  honest 
man  to  struggle  for  a  vote  in  the  legislature,  at  a  time  when  hone.st 
votes  are  so  much  wanted,  is  absolutely  a  duty,  but  it  is  surely 
an  act  of  virtue.  The  expence,  if  it  was  more,  I  should  wish  him 
to  despise'.  Money  is  made  for  such  purposes  as  this.  And  the 
method  to  which  the  trade  is  now  brought,  will,  I  hope,  save  him 
from  any  want  of  what  he  shall  now  spend. 

Keep  Mr.  Thrale  well,  and  make  him  keep  himself  well,  and 
put  all  other  care  out  of  your  dear  head. 

Sir  Edward  Littleton's  business  with  me  was  to  know  the 
character  of  a  candidate  for  a  school  at  Brewood  in  Staffordshire  ; 
to  which,  I  think,  there  are  seventeen  pretenders ^ 


ciples  totally  different  from  what  have 
hitherto  prevailed.'  After  stating 
'  the  specious  but  false  arguments ' 
for  such  a  proposition  he  continues : — 
'  To  refute  them  is  needless.  The 
general  sense  of  mankind  cries  out 
with  irresistible  force,  "  Un  gentil- 
hoi/Dne  est  toujoiirs  gentilhommeP ' 
Life,  i.  491.  Boswell  seems  at  times 
to  mark  his  sense  of  Mr.  Thrale's 
inferiority  by  speaking  of  him  as 
Thrale  and  his  house  as  Thrale's. 
He  never,  I  believe,  is  thus  familiar 
in  the  case  of  Beauclerk,  Burke, 
Langton,  and  Reynolds. 

'  See  Life,  ii.  153,  where  Johnson 
says  : — '  A  very  rich  man  from  low 
beginnings  may  buy  his  election  in 
a  borough  ;  but,  cateris  paribtts,  a 
man  of  family  will  be  preferred  ; '  and 
V.  106,  where  he  says  that  '  the 
Nabob  will  carry  an  election  by 
means  of  his  wealth  in  a  country 
where  money  is  highly  valued,  as  it 
must  be  where  nothing  can  be  had 
without  money.'  In  Moore's  Life  of 
Sheridan,  ed.  1826,  i.  405,  is  given  an 
account  of  Sheridan's  '  Expenses  at 
the  Borough  of  Stafford  for  Election, 
Anno  1784.'     The  first  entry  is 

248  Burgesses  paid  ;i^5  5^.  each 

VOL.  II.  M 


""  Johnson  records  that  when  he 
was  at  Hagley  in  1774  he  met  at 
dinner  Sir  Edward  Littleton  of  Staf- 
fordshire. Life,  V.  457.  With  Sir 
Edward's  death  the  baronetcy  ex- 
pired. He  was  succeeded  in  his 
estates  by  his  grand-nephew,  who  in 
1835  was  created  Baron  Hatherton. 
Burke's  Peerage. 

Johnson  himself  forty-four  years 
earlier  had  sought  the  post,  not  of 
master,  but  of  an  assistant  to  the 
master  of  Brewood  School.  Life,  iv. 
407,  ti.  4. 

Pretender  he  merely  defines  as 
'  one  who  lays  claim  to  anything.' 
Its  present  meaning  of  '  one  who 
falsely  lays  claim  to  a  thing '  he  does 
not  mention.  The  title  of  Pretender 
therefore  when  first  applied  to  the 
son  of  James  II  was  nothing  more 
than  Claimant.  By  the  time  Bos- 
well published  his  Tour  to  the  Hebri- 
des, and  no  doubt  much  earlier,  it 
had  acquired  its  secondary  and  offen- 
sive meaning.  Boswell  speaking  of 
Charles  Edward  says  :— '  I  do  not 
call  him  the  Pretender,  because  it 
appears  to  me  as  an  insult  to  one 
who  is  still  alive,  and,  I  suppose, 
thinks  very  differently.'    Life,  v.  185. 

Do 


1 62  To  He7i7y  Thrale.  [a.d.  i78o. 

Do  not  I  tell  you  every  thing?  what  wouldst  thou  more  of 
man?  It  will,  I  fancy,  be  necessary  for  you  to  come  up  once 
again  at  least,  to  fix  your  friends  and  terrify  your  enemies. 
Take  care  to  be  informed,  as  you  can,  of  the  ebb  or  flow  of  your 
interest ;  and  do  not  lose  at  Capua  the  victory  of  Cannae. 
I  hope  I  need  not  tell  you,  dear  Madam,  that 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Thursday,  May  25,  1780. 
No.  8,  Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  London. 

Look  at  this,  and  learn  ^ 

673. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Farmer. 
[London]  May  25,  1780.     Published  in  the  Life^  iii.  427. 

674. 

To  Henry  Thrale  ^. 

Dear   Sir,  London,  May  30,  1780. 

You  never  desired  me  to  write  to  you,  and  therefore  cannot 
take  it  amiss  that  I  have  never  written.  I  once  began  a  letter, 
in  which  I  intended  to  exhort  you  to  resolute  abstinence ;  but  I 
rejoice  now  that  I  never  sent,  nor  troubled  you  with  advice  which 
you  do  not  want.  The  advice  that  is  wanted  is  commonly  un- 
welcome, and  that  which  is  not  wanted  is  evidently  impertinent. 

The  accounts  of  your  health,  and  of  your  caution,  with  which 
I  am  furnished  by  my  mistress,  are  just  such  as  would  be  wished, 
and  I  congratulate  you  on  your  power  over  yourself,  and  on  the 
success  with  which  the  exercise  of  that  power  has  been  hitherto 
rewarded.  Do  not  remit  your  care ;  for  in  your  condition  it  is 
certain  that  security  ^  will  produce  danger. 

You  always  used  to  tell  me,  that  we  could  never  eat  too  little ; 
the  time  is  now  come  to  both  of  us,  in  which  your  position  is 
verified.     I  am  really  better  than  I  have  been  for  twenty  years 

'  She   was    to  learn   to   date  her  ^  Johnson  gives  as  the  first  mean- 

letters,  ing  of  security^  '  carelessness  ;   free- 

"  Piozzi  Letters y  ii.  139.  dom  from  fear.' 

past ; 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


163 


past  '^ ;  and  if  you  persist  in  your  present  laudable  practice,  you 
may  live  to  tell  your  great-grandchildren  the  advantages  of 
abstinence. 

I  have  been  so  idle,  that  I  know  not  when  I  shall  get  either  to 
you,  or  to  any  other  place  ;  for  my  resolution  is  to  stay  here  till 
the  work  is  finished,  unless  some  call  more  pressing  than  I  think 
likely  to  happen  should  summon  me  away.  Taylor,  who  is  gone 
away  brisk  and  jolly,  asked  me  when  I  would  come  to  him,  but 
I  could  not  tell  him.  I  hope,  however,  to  see  standing  corn  in 
some  part  of  the  earth  this  Summer,  but  I  shall  hardly  smell  hay, 
or  suck  clover  flowers  ^. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

675. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dear  Madam, 
You  mistake  about  Dr.  Taylor's  claim  upon  the  Abbey ;  the 
prebends  are  equal,  but  the  senior  prebendary  has  his  choice  of 
the  livings  that  are  in  the  gift  of  the  chapter,  of  which  St.  Margaret's 
is  one ;  which  if  Wilson  dies,  he  may  take  if  he  pleases ''.  He  went 
home  lusty  and  stout ;  having  bustled  ably  about  his  lawsuit, 
which  at  last,  I  think,  he  will  not  get. 

Mr.  Thrale,  you  say,  was  pleased  to  find  that  I  wish  him  well ; 
which  seems  therefore  to  be  a  new  discovery.  I  hoped  he  had 
known  for  many  a  year  past  that  nobody  can  wish  him  better. 
It  is  strange  to  find  that  so  many  have  heard  of  his  fictitious  re- 
lapse, and  so  few  of  his  continual  recovery. 

And  you  think  to  run  me  down  with  the  Bishop  and  Mrs. 
Carter,  and  Sir  James  ^;  and  I  know  not  whether  you  may  not 


'  See  post,  p.  181.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  the  great  improvement  in 
Johnson's  health  took  place  in  the 
years  when  he  was  at  work  on  the 
Lives  of  the  Poets.  It  is  very  likely 
that  the  occupation,  by  keeping  his 
mind  from  dwelling  so  much  on 
itself,  had  benefited  his  bodily  health. 

"  He  lost  both  his  summer  and  his 
autumn  ramble  this  year,  though  he 


did  visit  Brighton  in  October.  Life, 
iii.  453. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  141. 

"  Ante,  ii.  158. 

5  The  Bishop  was  the  Bishop  of 
Peterborough.  Ante,  ii.  157,  n.  5. 
Miss  Burney,  who  was  introduced  to 
Mrs.  Carter  at  Bath,  describes  her  as 
'  really  a  noble-looking  woman  ;  I 
never   saw   age    so   graceful   in   the 

M  2  will 


164 


To  Mrs.  Tkrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


win  a  heat,  now  the  town  grows  empty.  Mrs.  Vesey  suspects  still 
that  I  do  not  love  them  since  that  skrimage^.  But  I  bustle 
pretty  well,  and  shew  myself  here  and  there,  and  do  not  like 
to  be  quite  lost.  However,  I  have  as  many  invitations  to  the 
country  as  you  ;  and  I  do  not  mind  your  breakfasts,  nor  your 
evenings. 

Langton  is  gone  to  be  an  engineer  at  Chatham  ^ ;  and  I  sup- 
pose you  know  that  Jones  and  Scot  oppose  each  other  for  what 
neither  will  have  ^. 

If  Mr.  Thrale  at  all  remits  his  vigilance,  let  the  Doctor  loose 

upon  him.     While  he  is  watched  he  may  be  kept  from  mischief, 

but  he  never  can  be  safe  without  a  rule ;  and  no  rule  will  he  find 

equal  to  that  which  has  been  so  often  mentioned,  of  an  alternate 

dief*;    in  which,  at  least  in  this  season  of  vegetation,  there  is 

neither  difficulty  nor  hardship. 

I  am,  dearest  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

London,  No.  8,  Bolt-court,  Fleet-street.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

June  6,  1780  ^ 

Mind  this,  and  tell  Queeney. 


female  sex  yet ;  her  whole  face  seems 
to  beam  with  goodness,  piety  and 
philanthropy.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diar)\  i.  373.  Sir  James  was  pro- 
bably the  same  man  as  Sir  J.  C 

who  invited  far  more  people  to  his 
party  than  his  rooms  would  hold  ;  '  a 
bawling  old  man.'     lb.  pp.  367,  376. 

'  Neither  skrimage  nor  scrimmage 
is  in  Johnson's  Dictionary.  It  is 
the  same  word  as  skirtjiish.  The 
'  skrimage,'  I  suppose,  was  the  party 
where  he  and  Dr.  Barnard  '  made  a 
noise  all  the  evening.'     Ante,  ii.  136. 

^  He  was  an  officer  in  the  Lincoln- 
shire militia.  Life,  iii.  360.  Jones, 
writing  in  the  autumn  of  this  year, 
says  : — '  At  Chatham  I  sought  in  vain 
for  Mr.  Langton  among  the  new 
ravelines  and  counterscarps.'  Life 
of  Sir  William  Jones,  p.  235.  He 
took  a  house  at  Rochester,  where 
Johnson  visited  him  in  1783.  Life,  iv. 


232.  Johnson  defines  engineer  as 
'  one  who  manages  engines  ;  one  who 
directs  the  artillery  of  an  army.' 

^  Ante,  ii.  155. 

■*  '  Nobody  ever  had  spirit  enough 
to  tell  him  that  his  fits  were  apoplectic ; 
such  is  the  blessing  of  being  rich 
that  nobody  cares  to  speak  out.' — 
Baretti.  For  '  alternate  diet '  see 
ante,  ii.  143. 

^  It  is  strange  that  Johnson  does 
not  mention  the  Gordon  Riots,  of 
which  he  gives  an  account  in  his 
next  letter  to  Mrs.  Thrale.  Miss 
Burney  recorded  on  June  9  :— '  Dr. 
Johnson  has  written  to  Mrs.  Thrale, 
without  even  mentioning  the  exist- 
ence of  this  mob  ;  perhaps  at  this 
very  moment  he  thinks  it  "a  hum- 
bug upon  the  nation,"  as  George  Bo- 
dens  called  the  parliament.'  Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  401.  The  riot 
was  rising  to  its  worst  while  Johnson 

To 


Aetat.  70.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  165 


676. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 

Dear  Sir, 

Just  as  you  went  away  you  asked  me  whether  I  thought 
mercury  would  do  you  any  good ''.  I  never  had  considered  it 
before,  but  the  mention  of  it  made  an  impression  upon  me,  and 
I  am  of  opinion,  that  as  your  disorders  apparently  arise  from  an 
obstructed  circulation,  mercury  may  help  you.  I  would  have 
you  try  it  cautiously,  by  adding  two  grains  of  calomel  to  your 
pill  at  night.  Thus  taken,  it  will  remain  in  your  body  all  night, 
and  will  be  directed  downwards  in  the  morning.  So  small  a 
quantity  can  have  no  sudden  effect,  good  or  evil,  but  if  in  a 
month  you  think  yourself  better  continue  it,  if  worse,  leave  it  off, 
and  rid  yourself  of  it  by  a  brisk  purge.  I  hope  it  will  do  good. 
You  will  add  very  little  to  the  bulk  of  your  pill,  and  taste  it  has 
none,  and  as  it  is  combined  with  a  purgative  it  can  never  ac- 
cumulate.    Let  me  know  whether  you  take  it  or  not. 

Be  sure,  whatever  else  you  do,  to  keep  your  mind  easy,  and 

do  not  let  little  things  disturb  it  ^.     Bustle  about  your  hay  and 

your  cattle,  and  keep  yourself  busy  with  such  things  as  give  you 

little  solicitude. 

I  am.  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  St  [servant], 
June  6,  1780.     London,  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor,  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

was  writing,  but  no  doubt  he   had  physic'    see    Life,    iii.    152.      Miss 

posted  his  letter  before  Newgate  was  Burney  wrote  of  him  on  September 

attacked.     That  in  the  midst  of  the  14,  1781  : — 'Dr.  Johnson  has  been 

general  alarm  he  should  have  passed  very   unwell    indeed.      Once    I   was 

the   whole   tumult   over    in    silence,  quite  frightened  about  him ;  but  he 

and   insisted   on  the   importance  of  continues    his    strange    discipline — 

accurately  dating  a  letter,  is  certainly  starving,     mercury,     opium  ;      and 

a  curious  trait  of  character.  Perhaps  though  for  a  time  half  demolished  by 

he  did  not  want  to  alarm  Mr.  Thrale.  its    severity,   he  always   in   the   end 

In  his  Letter  to  Dr.  Taylor  of  the  rises  superior  both  to  the  disease  and 

same  day  he  is  equally  reticent.  the  remedy,  which  commonly  is  the 

'  From  the  original  in  the  posses-  most  alarming   of  the  two.'     Mme. 

sion  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Brooks  of  Newcasde  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  107. 

on  Tyne.  ^  For  the  art  of  managing  the  mind 

"^  For     Johnson's     'dabbling     in  see  Zz/^,  ii.  440;  iii.  164. 

To 


i66 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


677. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear   Madam,  London,  [Friday]  June  9,  1780. 

To  the  question.  Who  was  impressed  with  consternation  ?  it 
may  with  great  truth  be  answered,  that  every  body  was  impressed, 
for  nobody  was  sure  of  his  safety  ^. 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  143. 

The  riots  described  in  this  and  the 
next  few  letters  were  caused  by 
Protestant  bigotry.  The  severe 
penal  provisions  against  the  Roman 
Catholics  had  been  relaxed  so  far  as 
England  was  concerned  by  an  Act 
passed  the  year  before.  Popish 
priests,  or  Papists  keeping  school, 
were  no  longer  liable  to  perpetual 
imprisonment.  The  Catholics  were 
still  subject  to  all  the  penalties 
created  in  the  reigns  of  EHzabeth, 
James  I,  Charles  II,  and  in  the  first 
ten  years  of  William  III.  Scotland 
was  alarmed  by  the  report  that  the 
Scotch  Catholics  were  in  like  manner 
to  be  relieved.  The  spirit  of  bigotry 
broke  out  there  into  acts  of  violence 
and  cruelty,  and  the  Government  was 
timid  and  feeble.  The  success  of 
these  Scotch  bigots  seems  to  have 
given  rise  to  the  Protestant  Associa- 
tion in  England,  of  which  Lord 
George  Gordon  was  the  head.  Ajin. 
Reg.,  1780,  i.  254-6:  1781,  i.  237. 
Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  February 
II,  1779: — 'The  good  people  of 
Edinburgh  have  set  but  an  ugly 
example.  There  has  been  a  serious 
insurrection  against  the  Papists,  and 
two  mass-houses  were  burnt,  and  the 
Provost  quieted  the  tumult  only  by 
promising  that  the  toleration  of 
Popery  should  not  be  extended  to 
Scotland.'  Letters,  vii.  174.  On 
March  1 8  Burke,  attacking  the  supine- 
ness  of  the  Ministers  towards  the 
Scotch  rioters,  '  hoped  that  Govern- 
ment was  not  dead  but  only  asleep. 


At  this  moment  he  looked  directly  at 
Lord  North  who  was  asleep,  and  said 
in  the  Scripture  phrase,  "  Brother 
Lazarus  is  not  dead  but  sleepeth." 
The  laugh  was  not  more  loud  on  one 
side  of  the  House  than  on  the  other.' 
Pa7-l.  Hist.,  XX.  326.  Horace  Wal- 
pole, to  his  disgrace, '  always  disliked 
and    condemned   the  repeal   of  the 

Popish  statutes Papists  and 

liberty  are  contradictions.'  Letters, 
vii.  378  ;  viii.  426.  Gibbon  wrote  on 
June  27  : — '  The  month  of  June,  1780, 
will  ever  be  marked  by  a  dark  and 
diabolical  fanaticism  which  I  had 
supposed  to  be  extinct,  but  which 
actually  subsists  in  Great  Britain, 
perhaps  beyond  any  other  country  in 
Europe.'     Misc.  Works,  ii.  241. 

-  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  June 
7  : — '  Yet  I  assure  your  Ladyship 
there  is  no  panic.  Lady  Aylesbury 
has  been  at  the  play  in  the  Hay- 
market,  and  the  Duke  and  my  four 
nieces  at  Ranelagh  this  evening.' 
Letters,  vii.  388.  The  following 
Monday  he  wrote  : — '  Mercy  on  us  ! 
we  seem  to  be  plunging  into  the 
horrors  of  France,  in  the  reigns  of 
Charles  VI  and  VII! — yet,  as  ex- 
tremes meet,  there  is  at  this  moment 
amazing  insensibility.  Within  these 
f  )ur  days  I  have  received  five  appli- 
cations for  tickets  to  see  my  house  ! ' 
lb.  p.  395.  Gibbon,  who  lived  in 
Bentinck  Street,  Manchester  Square, 
wrote  on  June  8  : — '  Our  part  of  the 
town  is  as  quiet  as  a  country  village.' 
Misc.  Works,  ii.  240. 

On 


Aetat  70  ] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


167 


On  Friday  [June  2]  the  good  Protestants  met  in  St.  George's 
Fields,  at  the  summons  of  Lord  George  Gordon,  and  marching 
to  Westminster,  insulted  the  Lords  and  Commons,  who  all  bore 
it  with  great  tameness '.  At  night  the  outrages  began  by  the 
demolition  of  the  mass-house  "^  by  Lincoln's  Inn. 

An  exact  journal  of  a  week's  defiance  of  government  I  cannot 
give  you.  On  Monday,  [June  5],  Mr.  Strahan,  who  had  been 
insulted,  spoke  to  Lord  Mansfield,  who  had  I  think  been  in- 
sulted too,  of  the  licentiousness  of  the  populace  ;  and  his  Lord- 
ship treated  it  as  a  very  slight  irregularity  ^     On  Tuesday  night 


'  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  June 
3  : — '  I  smile  to-day— but  I  trembled 
last  night ;  for  an  hour  or  more  I 
never  felt  more  anxiety.  I  knew  the 
bravest  of  my  friends  were  barricaded 
into  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
every  avenue  to  it  impossible.  .  .  . 
The  Duke  of  Gloucester  had  reached 
the  House  with  the  utmost  difficulty, 
and  found  it  sunk  from  the  temple  of 
dignity  to  an  asylum  of  lamentable 

objects Mr.  Conway  and  Lord 

F.  Cavendish  told  me  there  was  a 
moment  when  they  thought  they 
must  have  opened  the  doors  and 
fought  their  way  out  sword  in  hand. 
Lord  North  was  very  firm,  and  at 
last  they  got  the  Guards  and  cleared 
the  pass.'  Walpole's  Letters,  vii. 
375-7-  The  poet  Crabbe  describes 
how  he  met  '  a  resolute  band  of  vile- 
looking  fellows,  ragged,  dirty,  and  in- 
solent, armed  with  clubs,  going  to 
join  their  companions '  at  West- 
minster, Crabbe's  Works,  ed.  1834, 
i.  82. 

^  '  He  means  the  Sardinian  Chapel, 
as  it  is  commonly  called.  But  so 
ilhberal  was  Johnson  made  byreligion 
that  he  calls  here  that  chapel  a  Mass- 
house,  by  way  of  contempt,  alluding 
to  the  names  oi  bun-house, chop-house, 
slaughter-house,  and  other  such  ;  yet 
he  hated  the  Presbyterians.' — Ba- 
RETTI.     Johnson  used  the  common 


term — the  one  used  by  Horace  Wal- 
pole (see  last  note).  In  the  Gentle- 
maffs  Magazine  for  1767,  p.  141,  there 
is  an  account  of  two  '  private  mass- 
houses  '  which  were  entered  by  the 
peace-officers.  The  Sardinian  Chapel 
was  attached  to  the  house  of  the 
Sardinian  Minister  in  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields.  The  House  and  Chapel  of 
Count  Haslang,  in  Golden  Square, 
were  also  plundered.  'As,'  writes 
Horace  Walpole,  'he  is  a  Prince  of 
Smugglers  as  well  as  Bavarian 
Minister,  great  quantities  of  run  tea 
and  contraband  goods  were  found  in 
his  house.  This  one  cannot  lament ; 
and  still  less,  as  the  old  wretch  has 
for  these  forty  years  usurped  a  hired 
house,  and,  though  the  proprietor  for 
many  years  has  offered  to  remit  his 
arrears  of  rent,  he  will  neither  quit 
the  house  nor  pay  for  it.'  Letters, 
vii.  381.  It  was  no  doubt  by  an  abuse 
of  the  protection  which  he  enjoyed 
as  a  Foreign  Minister  that  he  was 
able  to  swindle  his  landlord. 

^  Johnson  wrote  to  Boswell : — 
'  Mr.  Strahan  got  a  garrison  into  his 
house,  and  maintained  them  a  fort- 
night ;  he  was  so  frighted  that  he 
removed  part  of  his  goods.'  Li'/e,  iii. 
435.  Strahan  was  to  have  sat  this 
week  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  for  his 
portrait;  but  'the  appointments 
between  Monday  and  Thursday  have 

they 


1 68 


To  Mrs.  Tlirale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


they  pulled  down  Fielding's  house,  and  burnt  his  goods  in  the 
street '.  They  had  gutted  on  Monday  Sir  George  Savile's  house, 
but  the  building  was  saved  ^.  On  Tuesday  [June  6]  evening, 
leaving  Fielding's  ruins,  they  went  to  Newgate  to  demand  their 
companions  who  had  been  seized  demolishing  the  chapel.  The 
keeper  could  not  release  them  but  by  the  Mayor's  permission, 
which  he  went  to  ask ;  at  his  return  he  found  all  the  prisoners 
released,  and  Newgate  in  a  blaze  ^.  They  then  went  to  Blooms- 
bury  and  fastened  upon  Lord  Mansfield's  house,  which  they 
pulled  down  ;  and  as  for  his  goods,  they  totally  burnt  them. 
They  have  since  gone  to  Cane-wood,  but  a  guard  was  there 
before  them ''.  They  plundered  some  Papists,  I  think,  and  burnt 
a  mass-house  in  Moorfields  the  same  night. 


a  pen  drawn  through  them.'  Leslie 
and  Taylor's  Reynolds,  ii.  302. 
Horace  Walpole  describes  how  at  the 
riot  at  Westminster  on  the  2nd,  '  Lord 
Mansfield,  whose  [carriage]  glasses 
had  been  broken,  quivered  on  the 
wool-sack  like  an  aspen.'  Letters, 
vii.  376.  '  He  was  the  Speaker  pro- 
ternpore  in  the  absence  of  the  Lord 
Chancellor.'  Pari.  Hist.,  xxi.  665. 
Lord  Campbell  praises  his  great 
courage  this  day.  Lives  of  the  Chief 
Justices,  ed.  1849,  ii.  521.  He 
mentions,  however,  his  'want  of  moral 
courage.'  Lb.  p.  576.  It  seems  likely 
that  his  answer  to  Strahan  was  due 
to  his  timidity.  See  Letters  of  Hume 
to  Strahafi,  p.  125. 

'  Sir  John  Fielding,  half-brother  of 
Henry  Fielding,  the  novelist,  was 
bhnd  from  birth ;  nevertheless  he 
had  been  associated  with  his  brother 
as  assisting-magistrate  for  Middlesex 
and  Westminster,  and  succeeded  him 
on  his  death.  His  house  was  in 
Bow  Street.  He  outlived  the  riot 
only  three  months,  and  died  on 
September  4  of  this  year.  Did.  of 
Nat.  Biog.,  xviii.  424. 

'^  Savile  had  brought  into  Parlia- 
ment the  bill  in  favour  of  the  Catholics. 


He  lived  in  Leicester  Fields.  Ann. 
Reg.,  1780,  i.  260.  'The  rails  torn 
from  his  house  were  the  chief  weapons 
and  instruments  of  the  mob.'  Wal- 
pole's  Letters,  vii.  402.  Reynolds, 
who  lived  in  the  same  Square,  most 
likely  witnessed  the  scene  of  destruc- 
tion. 

^  Crabbe,  who  was  present,  says : — 
'  I  saw  about  twelve  women  and  eight 
men  ascend  from  their  confinement 
to  the  open  air,  and  they  were  con- 
ducted through  the  street  in  their 
chains.'  Crabbe's  Works,  i.  83. 
There  were  about  three  hundred 
prisoners  in  all.  Ann.  Reg.,  1780,  i. 
260. 

"*  '  Wednesday,  five  o'clock,  June  7. 
George  Selwyn  came  into  my  chaise 
in  a  fury,  and  told  me  Lord  Mans- 
field's house  is  in  ashes,  and  that 
five  thousand  men  were  marched  to 
Caen  Wood  — it  is  true,  and  that  one 
thousand   of  the   Guards  are   gone 

after   them Caen    Wood    is 

saved  ;  a  regiment  on  march  met  the 

rioters June  9,  at  night.     My 

bosom,  I  think,  does  not  want 
humanity,  yet  I  cannot  feel  pity  for 
Lord  Mansfield.  I  did  feel  joy  for 
the  four  convicts  who  were  released 

On 


Aetat.  70] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


169 


On  Wednesday  [June  7]  I  walked  with  Dr.  Scot '  to  look  at 
Newgate,  and  found  it  in  ruins,  with  the  fire  yet  glowing.  As  I 
went  by,  the  Protestants  were  plundering  the  Sessions-house  at 
the  Old  Bailey.  There  were  not,  I  believe,  a  hundred  ;  but  they 
did  their  work  at  leisure,  in  full  security,  without  sentinels,  with- 
out trepidation,  as  men  lawfully  employed,  in  full  day.  Such  is 
the  cowardice  of  a  commercial  place  ^.     On  Wednesday  they 


from  Newgate  within  twenty-four 
hours  of  their  execution  ;  but  ought 
not  a  man  to  be  taught  sensibiHty 
who  drove  us  cross  the  Rubicon  ?  I 
would  not  hurt  a  hair  on  his  head  ; 
but  if  I  sigh  for  the  afflicted  innocent, 
can  I  blend  him  with  them  ?  .  .  . 
June  10.  How  poor  a  sketch  I  have 
given  of  what  Guicciardini  would 
have  formed  a  folio  !  yet  we  would 
forget  the  wretched  wives  and 
mothers  that  will  rue  that  night,  and 
expatiate  on  the  precious  manuscripts 
burnt  in  Bloomsbury  [in  Lord  Mans- 
field's house].'  Walpole's  Letters.,  vii. 
385,  6,  392,  7.  Jeremy  Bentham, 
speaking  of  an  old  friend,  said  : — '  I 
remember  joining  him  to  deplore  the 
loss  of  Lord  Mansfield's  manuscripts 
by  the  mob ;  I  should  now  think 
such  a  loss  a  gain.'  Bentham's 
Works,  X.  51.  Dr.  Warner  wrote 
to  George  Selwyn  on  June  8 : — 
'  Barnard's  Inn — what  remains  of  it 
— Thursday  morning,  5  o'clock.  The 
fire  they  say  is  stopped,  but  what  a 
rueful  scene  has  it  left  behind  !  Sunt 
lachrymae  rerum,  indeed  :  the  sen- 
tence that  struck  me  upon  picking  up 
a  page  of  Lord  Mansfield's  Virgil  yes- 
terday, in  Bloomsbury  Square.  Sortes 
Virgiliance  !  ^ '  Selwyn  and  his  Con- 
tejnporaries,  iv.  334.  Lord  Mansfield, 
with  a  touch  of  eloquence  which  must 
have  deeply  moved  his  hearers,  when 
giving  his  opinion  in  the  House  of 
Lords  on  the  lawfulness  of  employing 


soldiers  for  quelling  riots,  said  : — 'I 
have  not  consulted  books  ; — Indeed 
I  have  no  books  to  consult.'  Pari. 
Hist.,  xxi.  694.  Caen  Wood  is  close 
to  Hampstead  Heath.  In  the  IVent- 
ivorth  Papers,  p.  298,  it  is  said  that 
'  it  was  sold  in  171 2  by  Lord  Berkeley 
of  Stratton  to  Lord  Blantire  for 
^4,000.' 

'  Dr.  Scott,  afterwards  Lord 
Stowell.  His  younger  brother  John, 
afterwards  Lord  Eldon,  with  the 
other  'youngsters  at  the  Temple 
armed  themselves  as  well  as  they 
could,  and  drew  up  in  the  court 
ready  to  follow  out  a  troop  of  soldiers 
who  were  there  on  guard.  When 
however  they  had  passed  through  the 
gate  it  was,'  he  continues,  '  suddenly 
shut  in  our  faces,  and  locked ;  and 
the  officer  in  command  shouted  from 
the  other  side,  "  Gentlemen,  I  am 
much  obliged  to  you  for  your  intended 
assistance  ;  but  I  do  not  choose  to 
allow  my  soldiers  to  be  shot,  so 
I  have  ordered  you  to  be  locked 
in.'"      Twiss's  Eldon,   ed.    1846,  i. 

S3- 

Johnson's  house  was  only  a  few 

minutes'  walk  from  Newgate. 

^  '  Not   two    in  all  London  could 

resolve  of  joining  to  each  other  in 

their  own  defence.   The  English  gave 

me  a  very  mean  idea  of  themselves 

upon  that  occasion.'— Baretti.     At 

Bath     there    was     just     as     much 

cowardice     as     at    London.       Miss 


*  Sortes  Virgiliana  is  a  mode  of  divination.     He  who  would  try  it  opens  Virgil  by 
chance,  and  from  the  line  which  first  catches  his  eye  divines  some  future  event. 

broke 


lyo 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


broke  open  the  Fleet,  and  the  King's-bench,  and  the  Marshalsea, 
and  Woodstreet-counter,  and  Clerkenwell  Bridewell,  and  released 
all  the  prisoners. 

At  night  they  set  fire  to  the  Fleet,  and  to  the  King's-bench, 
and  I  know  not  how  many  other  places  ;  and  one  might  see  the 
glare  of  conflagration  fill  the  sky  from  many  parts.  The  sight 
was  dreadful  ^  Some  people  were  threatened  ;  Mr.  Strahan  ad- 
vised me  to  take  care  of  myself.  Such  a  time  of  terror  you  have 
been  happy  in  not  seeing. 

The  King  said  in  council,  that  the  magistrates  had  not  done 
their  duty,  but  that  he  would  do  his  own  ;  and  a  proclama- 
tion was  published,  directing  us  to  keep  our  servants  within 
doors,  as  the  peace  was  now  to  be  preserved  by  force "".  The 
soldiers  were  sent  out  to  different  parts,  and  the  town  is  now 
at  quiet. 

What  has  happened  at  your  house  you  will  know,  the  harm  is 
only  a  few  butts  of  beer  ;  and  I  think  you  may  be  sure  that  the 


Burney,  describing  the  burning  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Chapel  in  that 
town,  says  : — '  The  rioters  do  their 
work  with  great  composure,  and 
though  there  are  knots  of  people  in 
every  corner  all  execrating  the  authors 
of  such  outrages,  nobody  dares  oppose 
them.'  Mme.  D'Arblay'sZ^z'^r/,  i.  403. 

'  'Wednesday  night,  past  two  in 
the  morning,  June  7.  I  was  at 
Gloucester  House  between  nine  and 
ten.  The  servants  announced  a  great 
fire,  we  went  to  the  top  of  the  house, 
and  beheld  not  only  one  but  two  vast 
fires.'  Walpole's  Letters,  vii.  386. 
Sir  John  Macpherson,  who  was  at 
Downing  Street  this  same  night, 
says  : — '  Lord  North  accompanied 
by  us  all  mounted  to  the  top  of  the 
house,  where  we  beheld  London 
blazing  in  seven  places,  and  could 
hear  the  platoons  regularly  firing 
in  various  directions.'  Wraxall's 
A4einoirs,  ed.  1815,  i.  336. 

"  'June  5.  Have  you  faith  enough 
in    me    to    believe     that    the    sole 


precaution  taken  was,  that  the 
Cabinet  Council  on  Thursday  em- 
powered the  First  Lord  of  the 
Treasury  to  give  proper  orders  to  the 
civil  magistrates  to  keep  the  peace, — - 
and  his  Lordship  forgot  it  !  .  . .  June  9. 
The  Magistrates  intimidated  by  the 
demolition  of  Fielding's  and  Justice 
Hyde's  houses,  did  not  dare  to  act. 
A  general  Council  was  summoned  at 
Buckingham  House,  at  which  the 
twelve  judges  attended.  It  was 
determined  not  to  shut  up  the  Courts, 
but  to  order  military  execution.' 
Walpole's  Letters,  vii.  380,  391.  For 
the  Proclamation  see  Ann.  Reg., 
1780,  i.  265.  The  following  General 
Order  was  issued  from  the  Adjutant- 
General's  Office  on  June  7: — 'In 
obedience  to  an  order  of  the  King  in 
Council  the  military  to  act  without 
waiting  for  directions  from  the  civil 
magistrates,  and  to  use  force  for  dis- 
persing the  illegal  and  tumultuous 
assemblies  of  the  people.'  lb.  p. 
266. 

danger 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Airs.  Thrale. 


171 


danger  is  over.     There  is  a  body  of  soldiers  at  St.  Margaret's 
Hill'. 

Of  Mr.  Tyson  I  know  nothing,  nor  can  guess  to  what 
he  can  allude ;  but  I  know  that  a  young  fellow  of  little 
more  than  seventy,  is  naturally  an  unresisted  conqueror  of 
hearts  -. 

Pray  tell  Mr.  Thrale  that  I  live  here  and  have  no  fruit, 
and  if  he  does  not  interpose,  am  not  likely  to  have  much  ;  but 
I  think  he  might  as  well  give  me  a  little,  as  give  all  to  the 
gardener  ^ 

Pray  make  my  compliments  to  Oueeney  and  Burney. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  Johnson  wrote  to  Boswell  on 
August  21  :— '  In  the  late  disturb- 
ances, Mr.  Thrale's  house  and  stock 
were  in  great  danger  ;  the  mob  was 
pacified  at  their  first  invasion,  with 
about  fifty  pounds  in  drink  and  meat  ; 
and  at  their  second,  were  driven  away 
by  the  soldiers.'  Zz/9',  iii.  435.  The 
Brewery  was  saved  by  the  manage- 
ment of  Perkins,  the  Superintendent. 
'  Perkins,'  Johnson  wrote  on  June 
1 5,  '  seems  to  have  managed  with 
great  dexterity.'  Post,T^.\']%.  Miss 
Burney,  who  was  at  Bath  with  the 
Thrales,  has  the  following  entries  in 
her  Diary.  'Saturday  [June  10]. 
Mrs.  Thrale  had  letters  from  Sir  P. 
Clerk  and  Mr.  Perkins  to  acquaint 
her  that  her  town-house  had  been 
three  times  attacked,  but  was  at  last 
saved  by  guards,  — her  children,  plate, 
money  and  valuables  all  removed. 
Streatham  also  threatened,  and 
emptied  of  all  its  furniture.  The 
same  morning  we  saw  a  Bath  and 
Bristol  paper  in  which  Mr.  Thrale 
was  asserted  to  be  a  Papist.  .  .  . 
Perhaps  he  may  himself  be  a  marked 
man  for  the  fury  of  the  mob.  We 
are  going  directly  from  Bath,  and 
intend  to  stop  only  at  villages.     All 


the  Catholics  in  the  town  have 
privately  escaped.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  i.  399,  403.  The  Thrales  fled 
to  Brighton,  whence  Mrs.  Thrale 
went  to  Streatham.  On  her  return 
she  wrote  to  Miss  Burney  on  June 
29  : — '  My  master  was  not  displeased 
that  I  had  given  Perkins  two  hundred 
guineas,  instead  of  one — a  secret  I 
never  durst  tell  before,  not  even  to 
Johnson,  not  even  to  you.'     lb.  p.  409. 

St.  Margaret's  Hill  is  in  Southwark. 
At  the  Court  House  there,  on  the  six 
days  beginning  with  July  10,  many  of 
the  rioters  were  tried,  and  twenty- 
four  capitally  convicted.  A7t7i.  Reg., 
1780,  i.  220,  277.  Here  thirty-four 
years  earher  many  of  the  Scotch 
Rebels  had  been  tried,  seventeen  of 
whom  were  put  to  death  with  torture 
on  Kennington  Common.  Smollett's 
Hist,  of  England,  iii.  188. 

^  Miss  Burney  describes  Mr.  Tyson 
as  '  a  very  civil  Master  of  the  Cere- 
monies.' Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
i.  376.  Johnson  himself  was 
more  than  seventy.' 

^  This  passage  very  likely 
meant  to  give  Mr.  Thrale  a 
confidence. 


little 

was 
little 


To 


172 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


678. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dear  Madam,  [Saturday],  June  10,  1780. 

You  have  ere  now  heard  and  read  enough  to  convince  you, 
that  we  have  had  something  to  suffer,  and  something  to  fear,  and 
therefore  I  think  it  necessary  to  quiet  the  soHcitude  which  you 
undoubtedly  feel,  by  telling  you  that  our  calamities  and  terrors 
are  now  at  an  end.  The  soldiers  are  stationed  so  as  to  be  every 
where  within  call  ^ ;  there  is  no  longer  any  body  of  rioters,  and 
the  individuals  are  hunted  to  their  holes,  and  led  to  prison  ;  the 
streets  are  safe  and  quiet ;  Lord  George  was  last  night  sent  to 
the  Tower ^.  Mr.  John  Wilkes''  was  this  day  with  a  party  of 
soldiers  in  my  neighbourhood,  to  seize  the  publisher  of  a  seditious 
paper.  Every  body  walks,  and  eats,  and  sleeps  in  security^.  But 
the  history  of  the  last  week  would  fill  you  with  amazement,  it  is 
without  any  modern  example. 

Several  chapels  have  been  destroyed,  and  several  inoffensive 
Papists  have  been  plundered,  but  the  high  sport  was  to  burn  the 


'  Piozzi  Letters^  ii.  152. 

^  '  I  bless  every  soldier  I  see,' 
wrote  Dr.  Burney  to  his  daughter ; 
'  we  have  no  dependence  on  any 
defence  from  outrage  but  the  military.' 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  407. 
Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  the  same 
day  as  Johnson : — '  While  in  the 
thick  of  the  conflagration  I  was  all 
indignation  and  a  thousand  passions. 
Last  night,  when  sitting  silently  alone, 
horror  rose  as  I  cooled  ;  and  grief 
succeeded,  and  then  all  kinds  of 
gloomy  presages.  For  some  time 
people  have  said,  where  will  all  this 
end  ?  I  as  often  replied,  where  will 
it  begin  "i  It  is  now  begun,  with  a 
dreadful  overture,  and  I  tremble  to 
think  what  the  chorus  may  be  !  The 
sword  reigns  at  present,  and  saved 
the  capital  !  What  is  to  depose  the 
sword  ? '     Letters,  vii.  394. 


^  '  The  tower  is  much  too  dignified 
a  prison  for  him—  but  he  had  left  no 
other.'  lb.  vii.  398.  '  The  guards 
that  attended  him  were  by  far  the 
greatest  in  number  ever  remembered 
to  guard  a  state  prisoner.'  Ann. 
Reg.,  1780,  i.  263. 

''  Wilkes  had  been  lately  elected 
City  Chamberlain,  and  was  no  longer 
'  a  W'ilkite.'  Life,  iii.  430,  n.  4.  Ten 
years  later  he  was  seen  going  up  to 
vote  against  Fox  at  Westminster 
'  amidst  the  hisses  and  groans  of  a 
multitude.'  Moore's  Life  of  Sheridan.^ 
ed.  1826,  ii.  120. 

^  For  security  see  ante,  ii.  162, 
71.  3.  On  Thursday  in  this  week — 
two  days  before  the  date  of  Johnson's 
Letter — even  though  the  soldiers 
had  poured  in  fast  '  the  shops  were 
universally  shut  from  Tyburn  to 
Whitechapel.'  Ann.  Reg.,  1780,  i.  262. 

jails. 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale, 


"^ll 


jails.  This  was  a  good  rabble  trick.  The  debtors  and  the 
criminals  were  all  set  at  liberty';  but  of  the  criminals,  as  has 
always  happened,  many  are  already  retaken,  and  two  pirates 
have  surrendered  themselves,  and  it  is  expected  that  they  will 
be  pardoned  ^. 

Government  now  acts  again  with  its  proper  force  ;  and  we  are 
all  again  under  the  protection  of  the  King  and  the  law.  I  thought 
that  it  would  be  agreeable  to  you  and  my  master  to  have  my 
testimony  to  the  publick  security;  and  that  you  would  sleep 
more  quietly  when  I  told  you  that  you  are  safe. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

679. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear   Madam,  London,  June  12,  1780. 

All  is  well,  and  all  is  likely  to  continue  well.     The  streets 


'  '  June  9.  We  have  now  super- 
abundantly to  fear  robbery ;  300 
desperate  villains  were  released  from 
Newgate.  Lady  Albemarle  was 
robbed  at  Mrs.  Keppel's  door  in  Pall 
Mall  at  twelve  at  night.  Baron 
D'Aguilar's  coach  was  shot  at  here 
last   night,  close  to  the    Crown    [at 

Twickenham] June  12.     One 

hears  of  nothing  but  robberies  on  the 
highway.'  Walpole's  Letters,  vii. 
392,  9.  Miss  Burney's  sister  wrote 
to  her  : — '  There  have  been  gangs  of 
women  going  about  to  rob  and 
plunder.  Miss  Kirwans  went  on 
Friday  afternoon  to  walk  in  the 
Museum  Gardens,  and  were  stopped 
by  a  set  of  women,  and  robbed  of 
all  the  money  they  had.'  Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  408. 

"^  The  two  pirates  had  been  found 
guilty  on  March  31  at  a  Court  of 
Admiralty,  of  causing  a  revolt  in  a 
privateer,  and  sentenced  to  death. 
They  were  to  have  been  hanged  on 
May  4, but  they  were  respited  '  in  con- 
sequence of  notice  taken  of  the  case 


in  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
captain,  it  seems,  had  been  con- 
cerned in  some  illicit  practices,  and 
they  had  resisted  going  into  port  for 
fear  of  being  pressed.'  Genilefiian's 
Magazine,  1780,  pp.  199,  248.  A 
correspondent  states  that  '  the  judge 
omitting  to  pass  sentence  of  death, 
and  only  saying  they  should  be 
carried  "to  the  usual  place  of  exe- 
cution," a  doubt  arose,  and  this 
weighed  in  their  favour  as  much  as 
the  alleviating  circumstances.  Dur- 
ing the  late  riots  they  are  said  to 
have  surrendered  themselves  to  the 
judge,  and  offered  to  defend  him 
when  he  fled  from  the  fury  of  the 
populace.'  lb.  p.  374.  A  man 
named  Purse,  who  was  under 
sentence  of  death  for  rape,  and  '  sur- 
rendered himself  again  into  the 
custody  of  Mr.  Akerman,'  received  a 
free  pardon  on  July  15.  Ann.  Reg., 
1780,  i.  212,  220.  For  Akerman, 
the  Keeper  of  Newgate,  see  Life,  iii. 

43i>  3- 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  154. 

are 


174  ^0  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1780. 

are  all  quiet,  and  the  houses  are  all  safe  '.  This  is  a  true  answer 
to  the  first  enquiry  which  obtrudes  itself  upon  your  tongue  at 
the  reception  of  a  letter  from  London.  The  publick  has  escaped 
a  very  heavy  calamity.  The  rioters  attempted  the  Bank  on 
Wednesday  night,  but  in  no  great  number ;  and  like  other 
thieves,  with  no  great  resolution.  Jack  Wilkes  headed  the  party 
that  drove  them  away  ^.  It  is  agreed,  that  if  they  had  seized  the 
Bank  on  Tuesday,  at  the  height  of  the  panick,  when  no  resistance 
had  been  prepared,  they  might  have  carried  irrecoverably  away 
whatever  they  had  found.  Jack,  who  was  always  zealous  for 
order  and  decency,  declares,  that  if  he  be  trusted  with  power,  he 
will  not  leave  a  rioter  alive  ^.  There  is  however  now  no  longer 
any  need  of  heroism  or  bloodshed  ;  no  blue  riband  is  any  longer 


worn  ■*. 


called  on  Friday  at  Mrs.  Gardiner's  ^  to   see  how  she 

escaped  or  what  she  suffered  ;  and  told  her,  that  she  had  herself 
too  much  affliction  within  doors,  to  take  much  notice  of  the  dis- 
turbances without. 

It  was  surely  very  happy  that  you  and  Mr.  Thrale  were  away 


'  Wraxall  records  a  curious   fact  1780,  i.  262,  'several  fell,  and  many 

which   he  witnessed  when   the  riot  were  wounded.' 

was  at  its  height.     In  Holborn,  at  a  ^  '  Wilkes  has  very  sensibly  ridden 

short    distance     from     the     blazing  home  on  Lord  George  Gordon,  and 

premises    of  a   large    distillery,    'a  distinguished   himself   by   zeal    and 

watchman,'     he      says,     'with      his  spirit.'     Walpole's  Letters,  vii.  401. 

lanthorn    in   his    hand    passed    us,  See  Life,  iii.  "/T,  430,  n.  4. 

calling  the  hour,  as  if  in  a  time  of  *  The     '  Protestants '     wore    blue 

profound     tranquillity.'       Wraxall's  ribbons  in  their  hats.     Horace  Wal- 

Memoirs,  ed.  1815,  i.  329.  pole  wrote  on  Wednesday,  June  7:— 

^  Crabbe,    at   eleven  o'clock  that  '  It  will  probably  be  a  black  night ;  I 

night,  met  '  large  bodies  of  horse  and  am  decking  myself  with  blue  ribbons 

foot    soldiers    coming   to  guard  the  like  a  May-day  garland.     Horsemen 

Bank.'  Crabbe's  Works,\.%i,.  Horace  are  riding  by  with  muskets.'     Letters 

Walpole,  writing  three  hours  later,  vii.  386.     Two  days  later  he  wrote 

says: — 'Colonel   Jennings   told    me  that  '  now  the  soldiers  tear  away  blue 

there  had  been  an  engagement  at  the  cockades.'     lb.  p.  390. 

Royal  Exchange  to  defend  the  Bank,  ^  Johnson's  friend,  the  wife  of  a 

and  that  the  Guards  had  shot  sixty  tallow-chandler,  on  Snow  Hill.   Life, 

of  the   mob;     I    have   since   heard  \.ii,i.     She  must  have  seen  Newgate 

seventy.'      Letters,    vii.    387.      The  blazing  hard  by  on  one  side,  and  the 

number    is    no    doubt    exaggerated.  great  distillery  on  the  other. 
According  to  the  Annual  Register, 

in 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  T/irale. 


175 


in  the  tumult ;  you  could  have  done  nothing  better  than  has 
been  done,  and  must  have  felt  much  terrour  which  your  absence 
has  spared  you. 

We  have  accounts  here  of  great  violences  committed  by  the 
Protestants  at  Bath  ;  and  of  the  demolition  of  the  masshouse. 
We  have  seen  so  much  here,  that  we  are  very  credulous '. 

Pray  tell  Miss  Burney  that  Mr.  Hutton^  called  on  me  yesterday, 
and  spoke  of  her  with  praise  ;  not  profuse,  but  very  sincere,  just 
as  I  do.  And  tell  Oueeney,  that  if  she  does  not  write  oftener,  I 
will  try  to  forget  her.  There  are  other  pretty  girls  that  perhaps 
I  could  get,  if  I  were  not  constant. 

My  Lives  go  on  but  slowly.  I  hope  to  add  some  to  them  this 
week.     I  wish  they  were  well  done. 

Thus  far  I  had  written  when  I  received  your  letter  of  battle 
and  conflagration  ^.  You  certainly  do  right  in  retiring ;  for  who 
can  guess  the  caprice  of  the  rabble  ?  My  master  and  Oueeney 
are  dear  people  for  not  being  frighted  '^.  I  wrote  to  you  a  letter 
of  intelligence  and  consolation  ;  which,  if  you  staid  for  it,  you 
had  on  Saturday;  and  I  wrote  another  on  Saturday,  which  per- 
haps may  follow  you  from  Bath,  with  some  atchievement  of  John 
Wilkes. 


'  For  the  demolition  of  the  mass- 
house  see  ante,  ii.  167,  n.  2.  Horace 
Walpole  wrote  on  the  12th: — 'Last 
night,  at  Hampton  Court,  I  heard  of 
two  Popish  chapels  demolished  at 
Bath,  and  one  at  Bristol.  My  coach- 
man has  just  been  in  Twickenham, 
and  says  half  Bath  is  burnt ;  I  trust 
this  is  but  the  natural  progress  of  lies, 
that  increase  like  a  chairman's  legs 
by  walking.'  Letters,  vii.  395.  For 
Johnson's  general  habit  of  incredulity 
see  Life,  iii.  229. 

^  Hutton  the  Moravian.  See  Life, 
iv.  410,  Letters  of  Hume  to  Strahan, 
pp.  364-9,  and  The  Early  Diary  of 
Fanny  Biirtiey,  i.  294,  where  a 
curious  account  is  given  of  his  intro- 
duction to  the  Burney  family. 

^  Mrs.  Thrale  gives  this  letter,  or 
a  substitute,  for  it.  It  belongs  to  those 


'  well-written  but  studied  epistles ' 
which  Boswell  evidently  did  not  think 
authentic.  Ajite,  ii.  147,  «.  4.  It 
is  not  easy  to  believe  that  writing  as 
she  says  she  was  at  3  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  after  a  night  of  '  trembling 
agitation,'  she  quoted  Shakespeare, 
and  drew  a  simile  from  '  the  iron  bed 
of  the  tyrant  Procrastes '  {sic).  Part 
of  the  letter  nevertheless  may  be 
genuine,  though  we  should  like  to 
know  how  she  got  the  original.  She 
scarcely  made  a  copy  of  it  in  her 
'  trembling  agitation.' 

"  '  Miss  Burney  is  frighted,  but  s-he 
says  better  times  will  come.  Mr. 
Thrale  seems  thunderstricken,  he 
don't  mind  anything;  and  Queeney's 
curiosity  is  stronger  than  her  fears.' 
Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  147. 

Do 


176 


To  Mrs.  T/trale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


Do  not  be  disturbed ;  all  danger  here  is  apparently  over :  but 
a  little  agitation  still  continues.  We  frighten  one  another  with 
seventy  thousand  Scots  to  come  hither  with  the  Dukes  of  Gordon 
and  Argyle,  and  eat  us,  and  hang  us,  or  drown  us  ;  but  we  are 
all  at  quiet '. 

I  am  glad,  though  I  hardly  know  why,  that  you  are  gone  to 
Brighthelmstone  rather  than  to  Bristol.  You  are  somewhat 
nearer  home,  and  I  may  perhaps  come  to  see  you.  Brighthelm- 
stone will  soon  begin  to  be  peopled,  and  Mr.  Thrale  loves  the 
place  ;  and  you  will  see  Mr.  Scrase  ^ ;  and  though  I  am  sorry 
that  you  should  be  so  outrageously  unroosted  ^,  I  think  that  Bath 
has  had  you  long  enough. 

Of  the  commotions  at  Bath  there  has  been  talk  here  all  day. 
An  express  must  have  been  sent ;  for  the  report  arrived  many 
hours  before  the  post,  at  least  before  the  distribution  of  the  letters. 
This  report  I  mentioned  in  the  first  part  of  my  letter,  while  I  was 
yet  uncertain  of  the  fact. 

When  it  is  known  that  the  rioters  are  quelled  in  London,  their 
spirit  will  sink  in  every  other  place,  and  little  more  mischief  will 
be  done. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

680. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  1 
Dear   Madam,  London,  June  14,  1780. 

Every  thing  here  is  safe  and  quiet.  This  is  the  first  thing 
to  be  told ;  and  this  I  told  in  my  last  letter  directed  to  Bright- 
helmstone.    There  has   indeed  been  an  universal  panick,  from 


'  Lord  George  Gordon  was  the 
son  of  the  third  Duke  of  Gordon. 
Two  days  later  Horace  Walpole, 
after  mentioning  that  Lord  George 
Gordon  was  in  the  Tower,  con- 
tinued : — '  What  a  nation  is  Scotland ; 
in  every  reign  engendering  traitors 
to  the  State,  and  false  and  pernicious 
to  the  Kings  that  favour  it  the  most ! 


National  prejudices,  I  know,  are  very 
vulgar  ;  but  if  there  are  national 
characteristics,  can  one  but  dislike 
the  soils  and  climates  that  concur  to 
produce  them  V     Letters,  vii.  400. 

"  Ante,  i.  395. 

^  This   word   Johnson   gets    from 
The  Winter's  Tale,  Act  ii.  sc.  3. 

■•  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  158. 

which 


Aetat.  70.]  To  JVh's.  Tlivale.  177 

which  the  King  was  the  first  that  recovered.  Without  the  con- 
currence of  his  ministers,  or  the  assistance  of  the  civil  magistrate, 
he  put  the  soldiers  in  motion,  and  saved  the  town  from  calamities, 
such  as  a  rabble's  government  must  naturally  produce'. 

Now  you  are  at  ease  about  the  publick,  I  may  tell  you  that 
I  am  not  well ;  I  have  had  a  cold  and  cough  some  time,  but  it  is 
grown  so  bad,  that  yesterday  I  fasted  and  was  blooded,  and  to 
day  took  physick  and  dined  :  but  neither  fasting  nor  bleeding, 
nor  dinner,  nor  physick,  have  yet  made  me  well. 

No  sooner  was  the  danger  over,  than  the  people  of  the  Borough 
found  out  how  foolish  it  was  to  be  afraid,  and  formed  themselves 
into  four  bodies  for  the  defence  of  the  place ;  through  which  they 
now  march  morning  and  evening  in  a  martial  manner^. 

I  am  glad  to  find  that  Mr.  Thrale  continues  to  grow  better  ;  if 
he  is  well,  I  hope  we  shall  be  all  well :  but   I  am  weary  of  my 

cough,  though  I  have  had  much  worse. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

681. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Dear  Madam,  London,  June  15,  1780. 

Last  night  I  told  you  that  I  was  not  well ;  and  though  you 

have  much  else  to  think  on,  perhaps  you  may  be  willing  enough 

to  hear,  that  by  the  help  of  an  opiate,  I  think  myself  better 

to-day. 

Whether  I  am  or  am  not  better,  the  town  is  quiet,  and  every 

body  sleeps  in  quiet,  except  a  few  who  please  themselves  with 

'  The    King,   it   must  be  remem-  vvark   .  .  .   have  formed  themselves 

bered,  was  solely  answerable  for  the  into  very  useful,  and   at   the   same 

choice  of  a  set  of  Ministers  of  whom  time    unexceptionable    associations  ; 

Johnson   said :— '  Such   a   bunch  of  and  if  something  of  the  same  kind 

imbecility  never  disgraced  a  country.'  was  adopted  in  the  City  there  is  no 

Life,  iv.  139.  doubt  but  much  use  and  great  secu- 

="  Several  inhabitants  of  the  City,  rity  would  arise  therefrom  ;  but  the 

who  had  proposed  to  arm  themselves  using  of  fire-arms   is   improper,  un- 

for  their  common    preservation,  re-  necessary,  and  cannot  be  approved.' 

ceived  from  the  Adjutant-General  on  Ami.  Reg.  17^0,  i.  266. 

June  12  the  following  letter:— 'The  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  159. 
inhabitants  of  the  Borough  of  South- 

VOL.  II.  N                                          guarding 


178 


To  Mi's.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


guarding  us  now  the  danger  is  over.  Perkins  seems  to  have 
managed  with  great  dexterity.  Every  body,  I  beheve,  now  sees, 
that  if  the  tumult  had  been  opposed  immediately,  it  had  been 
immediately  suppressed  ' ;  and  we  are  therefore  now  better  pro- 
vided against  an  insurrection,  than  if  none  had  happened. 

I  hope  you,  and  Master,  and  Queeney,  and  Burney,  are  all  well. 
I  was  contented  last  night  to  send  an  excuse  to  Vesey,  and  two 
days  ago  another  to  Mrs.  Horneck "" ;  you  may  think  I  was  bad, 
if  you  thought  about  it ;  and  why  should  you  not  think  about  me 
who  am  so  often  thinking  about  you,  and  your  appurtenances. 
But  there  is  no  gratitude  in  this  world. 

But  I  could  tell  you,  Doris,  if  I  would ; 

And  since  you  treat  me  so,  methinks  I  should. 

So  sings  the  sublime  and  pathetick  Mr.  Walsh  ^.  Well !  and 
I  will  tell  you  too.  Among  the  heroes  of  the  Borough,  who 
twice  a-day  perambulate,  or  perequitate*  High-street  and  the 
Clink  ^,  rides  that  renowned  and  redoubted  knight,  Sir  Richard 
Hotham^  There  is  magnanimity,  which  defies  every  danger 
that  is  past,  and  publick  spirit,  that  stands  sentinel  over  property 


'  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  the 
same  day  : — '  I  can  give  you  little 
account  of  the  original  of  this  shock- 
ing affair ;  Negligence  was  certainly 
its  nurse,  and  Religion  only  its  god- 
mother  The  lowest  and  most 

villanous  of  the  people,  and  to  no 
great  amount,  were  almost  the  sole 
actors.'     Letters^  vii.  402. 
^  Ante,  i.  344. 

^  '  Yet  I  could  tell  you,  fair-one,  if 
I  would, 
And   since  you  treat  me  thus, 
methinks  I  should.' 

Eclogue  ii.  Chalmers's  English 
Poets,  ed.  1810,  viii.  415. 

Pope  introduces  Walsh  in  the  Pro- 
logue to  the  Satires,  1.  135  : — 

'  But  why  then  publish  ?    Granville 
the  polite, 
And  knowing  Walsh  would  tell  me 
I  could  write.' 


Johnson  ends  his  brief  Life  of  him 
by  saying : — '  In  all  his  writings 
there  are  pleasing  passages.  He  has 
however  more  elegance  than  vigour, 
and  seldom  rises  higher  than  to  be 
pretty.'     Works,  vii.  244. 

■*  Johnson  does  not  give  in  his 
Dictio7iary  equitate,  equitation,  or 
perequitate.  Boswell,  seven  years 
earlier,  had  written  : — '  This  day  we 
were  to  begin  our  equitation,  as  I 
said ;  for  /  would  needs  make  a 
word  too.'     Life,  v.  131. 

^  '  Clink  Street  begins  at  Dead- 
man's  Place  and  extends  to  St.  Mary 
Overy's  Dock.  Clink  Prison  in  Clink 
Street  belongs  to  the  Liberty  of  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  called  the 
Clink  Liberty,  but  is  little  used.  It 
is  a  very  dismal  h(jle,  where  debtors 
are  sometimes  confined.'  Dodsley's 
Lotidon,  ii.  147. 

^  Ante,  ii.  154,  7i.  2. 

that 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Miss  Reynolds. 


179 


that  he  does  not  own.  Tell  me  no  more  of  the  self-devoted 
Decii,  or  of  the  leap  of  Curtius.  Let  fame  talk  henceforward 
with  all  her  tongues  of  Hotham  the  Hatmaker. 

I  was  last  week  at  Kenny's  conversatione ',  and  Renny  got  her 
room  pretty  well  filled  ;  and  there  were  Mrs.  Ord,  and  Mrs. 
Horneck,  and  Mrs.  Bunbury  ^  and  other  illustrious  names,  and 
much  would  poor  Renny  have  given  to  have  had  Mrs.  Thrale 
too,  and  Oueeney,  and  Burney :  but  human  happiness  is  never 
perfect ;  there  is  always  une  vuide  ajfretise,  as  Maintenon  com- 
plained ^,  there  is  some  craving  void  left  aking  in  the  breast. 
Renny  is  going  to  Ramsgate ;  and  thus  the  world  drops  away, 
and  I  am  left  in  the  sultry  town,  to  see  the  sun  in  the  crab,  and 
perhaps  in  the  lion '',  while  you  are  paddling  with  the  Nereids. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

682. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^ 

Dear   Madam,  Bolt  Court,  June  16,  1780. 

I   answer  your  letter  as  soon  as    I  can,  for  I    have  just 

received  it.     I  am  very  willing  to  wait  on  you  at  all  times,  and 

will  sit  for  the  picture,  and,  if  it  be  necessary,  will  sit  again,  for 

whenever  I  sit  I  shall  be  always  with  you  ^ 


'  Renny  was  Miss  Reynolds.  For 
conversatione  see  ante,  ii.  105, 71.  4. 

^  H.  W.  Bunbury,  the  caricaturist, 
had  married  one  of  Mrs.  Horneck's 
daughters.  Forster's  Goldsniiih,  ii. 
283.  See  ante,  i.  344,  n.  2.  See  Ap- 
pendix A. 

^  Madame  de  Maintenon  wrote  to 
Madame  de  la  INIaisonfort : — '  J'ai 
etd  jeune  et  jolie ;  j'ai  goute  des 
plaisirs  ;  j'ai  €x.€  aimee  partout. 
Dans  un  age  plus  avance,  j'ai  passd 
des  annees  dans  le  commerce  de 
I'esprit ;  je  suis  venue  k  la  faveur,  et 
je  vous  proteste,  ma  chere  fille,  que 
tous  les  etats  laissent  un  vide  affreux.' 
Voltaire,  Sikle  de  Louis  XIV,  ch. 
27.    Baretti,  noticing  Johnson's  error 


N 


in  gender  says : — '  I  have  some 
notion  that  he  wrote  it  right,  and 
the  ignorant  woman  made  it  wrong, 
thinking  she  was  doing  right.' 

"  The  sun  enters  the  Crab  on  June 
21,  and  the  Lion  on  July  22  or  23. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  649. 

*  For  Johnson's  sitting  to  Miss 
Reynolds  for  his  portrait  see  post. 
Letter  of  August  20,  1783.  Though 
he  often  sat  to  her  he  once  said  that 
'he  thought  portrait -painting  an 
improper  employment  for  a  woman. 
"  Public  practice  of  any  art  (he  ob- 
served) and  staring  in  men's  faces  is 
very  indelicate  in  a  female." '  Life, 
ii.  362.. 
2  Do 


i8o 


To  Mrs.   Tkrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


Do  not,  my  love,  burn  your  papers.  I  have  mended  little  but 
some  bad  rhymes  ^  I  thought  them  very  pretty,  and  was  much 
moved  in  reading  them.  The  red  ink  is  only  lake  and  gum,  and 
with  a  moist  sponge  will  be  washed  off. 

I  have  been  out  of  order,  but,  by  bleeding  and  other  means, 

am  now  better.     Let  me  know  on  which  day  I  shall  come  to 

you. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

683. 


Sir, 


To  John  Nichols 


I  have  been  out  of  order,  but  by  bleeding  and  physick  think 

I  am  better,  and  can  go  again  to  work. 

Your  note  on  Broome  will  do  me  much  good.     Can  you  give 

me  a  few  dates  for  A.  Philips?     I  wrote  to  Cambridge  about 

them,  but  have  had  no  answer  ^ 

I  am, 

Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 

June  1 6,  1780.  SaM:    JOHNSON. 

To  Mr.  Nicol. 

684. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale*. 
Dear   Madam,                                            Wednesday,  June  21,  1780. 
Now  you  come  to  a  settled   place  ^  I   have  some  inclina- 
tion to  write  to  you  ;    for  in  writing  after  you   there  was  no 
pleasure.     All  is  quiet ;  and  that  quietness  is  now  more  likely  to 
continue  than  if  it  had  never  been  disturbed.      's  case,   if 


'  '  Of  a  poem  now  before  me. 
Johnson  read  it  attentively,  and  made 
numerous  corrections  ;  but  after  all 
it  is  not  worth  much.'    Croker. 

*  First  published  in  the  Gentle- 
man's Ma^azifte  for  1785,  page  10. 

^  Johnson  on  May  25  had  written 
to  Dr.  Farmer  for  'the  dates  or  other 
informations  which  College  or  Uni- 


versity registers  can  supply  relating  to 
Ambrose  Philips,  Broome  and  Gray. 
Life,  iii.  427.  His  correspondent's 
neglect  to  answer  is  apparent  in  the 
Lives  of  these  men.  The  informa- 
tion which  was  not  supplied  by  him 
was  not  obtained  elsewhere. 

"  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  162. 

^  Brighton. 

it 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mrs.  T/ivale.  i8i 


it  be  not  affected,  is  ridiculous ;  but  there  is  in  the  world  much  ' 
tenderness  where  there  is  no  misfortune,  and  much  courage  where 
there  is  no  danger. 

My  cold  is  grown  better,  but  is  not  quite  well,  nor  bad  enough 
now  to  be  complained  of.  I  wish  I  had  been  with  you  to  see  the 
Isle  of  Wight ;  but  I  shall  perhaps  go  some  time  without  you, 
and  then  we  shall  be  even. 

What  you  told  me  of  Mr.  Middleton  frighted  me  ;  but  I  am 
still  of  my  old  opinion,  that  a  semivegetable  diet  will  keep  all 
well.     I  have  dined  on  Monday  and  to-day  only  on  peas '. 

I  suppose  the  town  grows  empty,  for  I  have  no  invitations  ; 
and  I  begin  to  wish  for  something,  I  hardly  know  what :  but 
I  should  like  to  move  when  every  body  is  moving ;  and  yet 
I  purpose  to  stay  till  the  work  is  done,  which  I  take  little  care  to 
do.     Sic  labiUir  cetas  ^. 

The  world  is  full  of  troubles.     Mrs, has  just  been  with 

me  to  get  a  chirurgeon  ^  to  her  daughter ;  the  girl  that  Mrs. 
Cumins  *  rejected,  who  has  received  a  kick  from  a  horse,  that  has 
broken  five  fore-teeth  on  the  upper  side.  The  world  is  likewise 
full  of  escapes ;  had  the  blow  been  a  little  harder  it  had  killed 
her. 

It  was  a  twelvemonth  last  Sunday  since  the  convulsions  in  my 
breast  left  me  ^.  I  hope  I  was  thankful  when  I  recollected  it : 
by  removing  that  disorder,  a  great  improvement  was  made  in 
the  enjoyment  of  life.  I  am  now  as  well  as  men  at  my  age  can 
expect  to  be,  and  I  yet  think  I  shall  be  better. 

I  have  had  with  me  a  brother  of  ,  a  Spanish  merchant, 

whom  the  war  has  driven  from  his  residence  at  Valencia ;  he  is 
gone  to  see  his  friends,  and  will  find  Scotland  but  a  sorry  place 
after  twelve  years'  residence  in  a  happier  climate.  He  is  a  very 
agreeable  man,  and  speaks  no  Scotch  ^. 

'  Post,  p.  184,  we  find  the  word  *  In    the    Letter    of    October   31, 

spelt  pease,  in  accordance  with  the  1781,  there  is  mention  of  Cummins 

rule  given  in  Johnson's  Dictioiary  and  of  Mrs.   Cumyns.     Perhaps   in 

under  Pease.     See  ante,  ii.  143,  for  these   three   ways    of    spelling    one 

his  alternate  diet.  name  only  is  included. 

*  '  Cito  pede  labitur  eetas.'     OviD,  ^  See  atite,  ii.  143,  «.  3. 

Ars.  Am.  iii.  65.  *  Boswell's  brother  David  was  this 

^  Ante,  ii.  i,  «.  4.  'very  agreeable  man.'  Boswell  quotes 

Keep 


1 82  To  Mrs.  Tkrale.  [a.d.  1780. 


Keep  Master  to  his  diet,  and  tell  him  that  his  illwillers'  are 
very  unwilling  to  think  that  he  can  ever  sit  more  in  parliament, 
but  by  caution  and  resolution  he  may  see  many  parliaments. 
Pay  my  respects  to  Queeney  and  Burney.  Living  so  apart  we 
shall  get  no  credit  by  our  studies " ;  but  I  hope  to  see  you  all  again 
some  time.     Do  not  let  separation  make  us  forget  one  another. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

685. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  July  4,  1780. 

You  are  too  happy  for  any  body  but  yourself  to  travel  in 
such  pretty  company,  and  leave  every  thing  safe  behind  you,  and 
find  every  thing  well  when  you  arrive ;  and  yet  I  question  if  you 
are  quite  contented,  though  every  body  envies  you  ■*.  Keep  my 
master  tisfht  in  his  g-eers  ^  for  if  he  breaks  loose  the  mischief  will 
be  very  extensive. 

Your  account  of  Mr.  S and  of  Miss  O is  very  melan- 
choly; I  wish  them  both  their  proper  relief  from  their  several 

this  passage  and  says  in  a  note :—  climate  to  happiness  ?    Place  me  in 

'  Mrs.  Piozzi  has  omitted  the  name,  the  heart  of  Asia,  should  I  not  be 

she  best  knows  why.'      Life,  ill.  434.  exiled  ?   What  proportion   does   cli- 

Writing  of  him  to  Temple  he  says  :—  mate  bear  to  the  complex  system  of 

*  In  Spain  he  gave  up   all   philoso-  human  life  ?    You  may  advise  me  to 

phizing,  and  applied  himself  to  real  go  to  live  at  Bologna  to  eat  sausages. 

business.     He  says  he  found  out  that  The  sausages  there  are  the  best  in 

men  who  speculate  on  life,  as  you  and  the  world  ;  they  lose  much  by  being 

I  do,  are  not  successful  in  substantial  carried."  '     Life,  ii.  195. 

concerns.'    Letters  0/  Boswen,^^.2SA'  '  Illiviller    is    not    in     Johnson's 

Johnson  had  spoken  very  differently  Dictionary. 

of  the  effect  of  climate  eight  years  -  See  ante,  ii.  98,  for  the  lessons 

earlier,  when  Boswell  talked  to  him  in  Latin  which  he  gave  to  Queeney 

about  this  same  brother  : — '  I   men-  and  Miss  Burney. 

tioned  a  friend  of  mine  who  had  re-  ^  Pioszi  Letters,  ii.  164. 

sided   long   in   Spain,  and  was  un-  ■•  Mrs.  Thrale  had  been  to  Streal- 

willing  to  return  to  Britain.     John-  ham    and     returned    to     Brighton. 

SON.  "  Sir,   he  is  attached  to  some  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i.  409. 

woman."    BoswELL.    "  I  rather  be-  ^  Gears  in  Johnson's  Dictionary — 

lieve,  Sir,  it  is  the  fine  climate  which  '  the  traces  by  which  horses  or  oxen 

keeps  him  there."  Johnson.  "  Nay,  draw.' 

Sir,  how  can  you  talk  so  .-•  What  is 

maladies, 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


183 


maladies  ^  But  I  am  glad  that  Oueeney  continues  well ;  and 
hope  she  will  not  be  too  rigorous  with  the  young  ones,  but  allow 
them  to  be  happy  their  own  way ;  for  what  better  way  will  they 
ever  find  ^  ? 

C'est  que  I'enfant  toujours  est  homme ; 
C'est  que  rhomme  est  toujours  enfant. 

I  have  not  seen  or  done  much  since  I  had  the  misfortune  of 
seeing  you  go  away,  I  wasonenight  at  Burney's.  There  were  [jzV] 
Pepys,  and  there  were  Mrs.  Ord,  and  Paradise,  and  Hoole,  and 
Dr.  Dunbar  of  Aberdeen,  and  I  know  not  how  many  more. 
And  Pepys  and  I  had  all  the  talk  ^ 

To-day  called  on  me  the  Dean  of  Hereford  ^  who  says  that  the 
barley-harvest  is  likely  to  be  very  abundant.  There  is  something 
for  our  consolation.     Don't  forget  that  Lam, 

Dear  Madam, 

Your,   &c,, 

Sam:  Johnson, 


'  Mrs.  Thrale  wrote  to  Miss  Bur- 
ney  on  June  29  : — '  This  morning  I 
carried  a  bunch  of  grapes  to  Mr, 
Scrase,  who  was  too  ill  to  swallow 
one,  or  to  see  even  me.  My  master 
however  is  quite  in  rosy  health,  and 
jokes  Peggy  Owen  for  her  want  of 
power  to  flash.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  i.  409. 

^  '  Mr.  Johnson,'  writes  Mrs.  Piozzi 
{Anecdotes,  p.  21),  'was  exceedingly 
disposed  to  the  general  indulgence  of 
children,  and  was  even  scrupulously 
and  ceremoniously  attentive  not  to 
offend  them.  He  had  strongly  per- 
suaded himself  of  the  difficulty  people 
always  find  to  erase  early  impressions 
either  of  kindness  or  resentment.' 
See  Life,  iv.  196.  This  perhaps  he 
had  got  from  South,  who,  addressing 
'  the  educators  of  youth,'  says  : — 
'  Let  them  remember  that  excellent 
and  never  to  be  forgotten  advice, 
that  boys  will  be  men;  and  that  the 
memory  of  all  base  usage  will  sink 
so    deep    into,  and  grow  up   so  in- 


separably with  them,  that  it  will  not 
be  so  much  as  in  their  own  power 
ever  to  forget  it.'  South's  Sermons., 
ed.  1823,  iii.  398. 

^  Miss  Burney  wrote  to  Mrs.  Thrale 
on  July  8  : — '  I  have  not  seen  Dr. 
Johnson  since  the  day  you  left  me, 
when  he  came  hither,  and  met  Mrs. 
Ord,  Mr.  Hoole,  Mrs.  Reynolds, 
Baretti,  the  Paradises,  Pepys,  Castles, 
Dr.  Dunbar  and  some  others  ;  and 
then  he  was  in  high  spirits  and  good 
humour,  talked  all  the  talk,  affronted 
nobody,  and  delighted  everybody. 
I  never  saw  him  more  sweet,  or 
better  attended  to  by  his  audience.' 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  i,  412, 
Johnson  had  met  Dr.  Dunbar  at 
Aberdeen.  Life,  iii.  436  ;  v.  92.  He 
was  the  uncle  of  Sir  James  Dunbar 
of  Boath,  Capt.  R.N,,  whose  widow 
died  in  1888,  aged  93. 

'^  Dr.  Nathan  Wetherell,  who  was 
also  Master  of  University  College, 
Oxford.  Le  Neve's  Fast.  EccL  Angl. 
iii.  538. 

To 


t84  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1780. 


686.  ; 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dear  Madam,  London,  July  10,  1780. 

If  Mr.  Thrale  eats  but  half  his  usual  quantity,  he  can  hardly 
eat  too  much.  It  were  better  however  to  have  some  rule,  and 
some  security.  Last  week  I  saw  flesh  but  twice,  and  I  think  fish 
once,  the  rest  was  pease. 

You  are  afraid,  you  say,  lest  I  extenuate  myself  too  fast,  and 
are  an  enemy  to  violence :  but  did  you  never  hear  nor  read,  dear 
Madam,  that  every  man  has  his  genius,  and  that  the  great  rule 
by  which  all  excellence  is  attained,  and  all  success  procured,  is, 
to  follow  genius ;  and  have  you  not  observed  in  all  our  conversa- 
tions that  my  genius  is  always  in  extremes  ;  that  I  am  very  noisy, 
or  very  silent ;  very  gloomy,  or  very  merry ;  very  sour,  or  very 
kind  ?  And  would  you  have  me  cross  my  genius,  when  it  leads 
me  sometimes  to  voracity  and  sometimes  to  abstinence ""  ?  You 
know  that  the  oracle  said  follow  your  genius.  When  we  get 
together  again,  (but  when  alas  will  that  be  ?)  you  can  manage  me, 
and  spare  me  the  solicitude  of  managing  myself. 

Poor  Miss  O ^  called  on  me  on  Saturday,  with  that  fond 

and  tender  application  which  is  natural  to  misery,  when  it  looks 
to  every  body  for  that  help  which  nobody  can  give.  I  was 
melted  ;  and  soothed  and  counselled  her  as  well  as  I  could,  and 
am  to  visit  her  to-morrow. 

She  gave  a  very  honourable  account  of  my  dear  Queeney  ;  and 
says  of  my  master,  that  she  thinks  his  manner  and  temper  more 
altered  than  his  looks,  but  of  this  alteration  she  could  give  no 
particular  account ;  and  all  that  she  could  say  ended  in  this,  that 
he  is  now  sleepy  in  the  morning.  I  do  not  wonder  at  the  scanti- 
ness of  her  narration,  she  is  too  busy  within  to  turn  her  eyes 
abroad. 

I   am   glad   that    Pepys''   is    come,    but    hope   that   resolute 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  l66.  For  Johnson's  extreme  of  silence  see 

^  'Johnson,   though    he   could   be  ib.  iii.  307. 
rigidly  abstemious,  was   not  a  tern-  ^  Miss  Owen.      Mme.    D'Arblay's 

perate  man  either  in  eating  or  drink-  Diary,  i.  410. 

ing.     He  could  refrain,  but  he  could  "  Sir  Lucas  Pepys,  the  physician, 

not    use    moderately.'     Life,    i.    468.  Ante,  ii.  106,  n.  3. 

temperance 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.   Tkrale. 


185 


temperance  will  make  him  unnecessary.  I  doubt  he  can  do  no 
good  to  poor  Mr.  Scrasc. 

I  stay  at  home  to  work,  and  yet  do  not  work  diligently;  nor 
can  tell  when  I  shall  have  done,  nor  perhaps  does  any  body  but 
myself  wish  me  to  have  done  ;  for  what  can  they  hope  I  shall  do 
better?  yet  I  wish  the  work  was  over,  and  I  was  at  liberty'. 
And  what  would  I  do  if  I  was  at  liberty?  Would  I  go  to  Mrs. 
Aston  and  Mrs.  Porter,  and  see  the  old  places,  and  sigh  to  find 
that  my  old  friends  are  gone  ?  Would  I  recal  plans  of  life  which 
I  never  brought  into  practice,  and  hopes  of  excellence  which 
I  once  presumed  '^,  and  never  have  attained  ?  Would  I  compare 
what  I  now  am  with  what  I  once  expected  to  have  been  ?  Is  it 
reasonable  to  wish  for  suggestions  of  shame,  and  opportunities  of 
sorrow  ? 

If  you  please.  Madam,  we  will  have  an  end  of  this,  and  contrive 
some  other  wishes.  I  wish  I  had  you  in  an  evening,  and  I  wish 
I  had  you  in  a  morning ;  and  I  wish  I  could  have  a  little  talk, 
and  see  a  little  frolick.  For  all  this  I  must  stay,  but  life  will 
not  stay. 

I  will  end  my  letter  and  go  to  Blackmore's  Life  ^,  when  I  have 

told  you  that 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

687. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

London,  July  27,  1780. 

And  thus  it  is,  Madam,  that  you  serve  me.     After  having 


'  '  This  paragraph  paints  him  to 
the  very  life.'    Baretti. 

^  Johnson  does  not  give  in  his 
Diciionary  any  instance  of  this  con- 
struction. Perhaps  however  he  means 
'  which  I  once  presumed  to  attain.' 

^  Blackmore  was  one  of  the  four 
poets  who,  by  his  recommendation, 
were  added  to  the  collection.  Watts, 
Pomfret,  and  Yalden  were  the  others. 
Life,  iii.  370 ;  iv.  54.  Mrs.  Thrale 
wrote  to  him  on  May  9  of  this  year : — 
'  Shall  we  have  some  chat  about  the 


Lives  now  }  that  of  Blackmore  will 
be  very  entertaining  I  dare  say,  and 
he  will  be  rescued  from  the  old  wits 
who  worried  him,  much  to  your  dis- 
liking :  so  a  little  for  love  of  his 
Christianity,  a  little  for  love  of  his 
physick,  a  little  for  love  of  his 
courage — and  a  little  for  love  of  con- 
tradiction, you  will  save  him  from 
his  malevolent  criticks,  and  perhaps 
do  him  the  honour  to  devour  him 
yourself.'  Piozzi  Letters^  ii.  122. 
■•  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  169. 

kept 


1 86  To  Mrs.  Tlirale.  [a.d.  1780. 

kept  me  a  whole  week  hoping  and  hoping,  and  wondering  and 
wondering  what  could  have  stopped  your  hand  from  writing, 
comes  a  letter  to  tell  me,  that  I  sufifer  by  my  own  fault.  As  if 
I  might  not  correspond  with  my  Queeney,  and  we  might  not 
tell  one  another  our  minds  about  politicks  or  morals,  or  any 
thing  else.  Queeney  and  I  are  both  steady,  and  may  be 
trusted  ;  we  are  none  of  the  giddy  gabblers,  we  think  before  we 
speak. 

I  am  afraid  that  I  shall  hardly  find  my  way  this  summer  into 
the  country,  though  the  number  of  my  Lives  now  grows  less. 
I  will  send  you  two  little  volumes  in  a  few  days'. 

As  the  workmen  are  still  at  Streatham,  there  is  no  likelihood 
of  seeing  you  and  my  master  in  any  short  time ;  but  let  my 
master  be  where  he  will  so  he  be  well.  I  am  not,  I  believe,  any 
fatter  than  when  you  saw  me,  and  hope  to  keep  corpulence  away ; 
for  I  am  so  lightsome  and  so  airy,  and  can  so  walk,  you  would 
talk  of  it  if  you  were  to  see  me.  I  do  not  always  sleep  well ; 
but  I  have  no  pain  nor  sickness  in  the  night.  Perhaps  I  only  sleep 
ill  because  I  am  too  long  a-bed  ^. 

I  dined  yesterday  at  Sir  Joshua's  with  Mrs.  Cholmondely,  and 
she  told  me,  I  was  the  best  critick  in  the  world  ;  and  I  told  her, 
that  nobody  in  the  world  could  judge  like  her  of  the  merit  of 
a  critick  \ 

On  Sunday  I  was  with  Dr.  Lawrence  and  his  two  sisters-in- 
law,  to  dine  with  Mr.  G '*  at  Putney.     The  Doctor  cannot 

hear  in  a  coach  better  than  in  a  room,  and  it  was  but  a  dull 

'  Miss  Burney  wrote  to  Mrs.  Thrale  fortunate  in  my  own  family,'  wrote 

on   August  16  : — '  Dr.  Johnson   has  Horace   Walpole    on    December   5, 

delighted  me  with  another  volume  of  1746;  'my  nephew.   Captain   Chol- 

Vxs  Lives — that  which  contains  Black-  mondeley,   has   married    a   player's 

more,  Congreve,  &;c.,  which  he  tells  sister.'    Letters,  ii.  68.     The  Captain 

me  you  have  had.'    Mme.  D'Arblay's  afterwards  quitted  the  army  and  took 

Diary,  i.  420.    These  volumes  were  orders.   lb.  n.  4.    Boswell  dined  with 

not  yet  published.  her  at  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's,  when 

' 'That  was  true  enough.' Baretti.  'she  was  in   a  high  flow  of  spirits, 

■'' Mrs.  Cholmondeley  was  a  younger  and  exhibited  some  lively  sallies  of 

sister  of  Peg  Woffington.     She  mar-  hyperbolical  compliment  to  Johnson, 

ried  the  Hon.  Robert  Cholmondeley,  with  whom  she  had   been   long  ac- 

second    son    of    the    third    Earl    of  quainted,  and  was  very  easy.'     Life, 

Cholmondeley  and  grandson  of  Sir  iii.  318. 

Robert  Walpole.     '  1  have  been  un-  *  '  Gawler.'    Baretti. 

day; 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Lovd  Wcstcote.  187 

day;   only  I  saw  two  crownbirds,  paltry  creatures',  and  a  red 
curlew. 

Every  body  is  gone  out  of  town,  only  I  am  left  behind,  and 
know  not  when  I  shall  see  either  Naiad  or  Dryad  ;  however,  it  is 
as  it  has  commonly  been,  I  have  no  complaint  to  make  but  of 
myself.     I  have  been  idle,  and  of  idleness  can  come  no  goodness. 

Mrs.  Williams  was  frighted  from  London  as  you  were  frighted 
from  Bath.  She  is  come  back,  as  she  thinks,  better.  Mrs. 
Desmoulins  has  a  disorder  resembling  an  asthma ;  which  I  am 
for  curing  with  calomel  and  jalap,  but  Mr.  Levet  treats  it  with 
antimonial  wine.  Mr.  Levet  keeps  on  his  legs  stout,  and  walks, 
I  suppose,  ten  m.iles  a-day^. 

I  stick  pretty  well  to  diet,  and  desire  my  master  may  be  told  of 
it ;  for  no  man  said  oftener  than  he,  that  tJie  less  we  eat  the  better. 

Poor ,  after  having  thrown  away  Lord 's  patronage 

and  three  hundred  a-year,  has  had  another  disappointment.    He 

procured  a  recommendation  from  Lord to  the  Governor  of 

Jamaica  ;  but  to  make  this  useful,  something  was  to  be  done  by 
the  Bishop  of  London,  which  has  been  refused.  Thus  is  the 
world  filled  with  hope  and  fear,  and  struggle,  and  disappointment. 

Pray  do  you  never  add  to  the  other  vexations,  any  diminution 

of  your  kindness  for. 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

688. 

To  Lord  Westcote^ 
My  Lord,  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  July  27,  1780. 

The  course  of  my  undertaking  will  now  require  a  short  life 

'  '  Very  rare  and  singular   birds  ;  tops,  like  those  of  an  Earl's  coronet, 

but  Johnson  cared  for  little  but  books,  of  a  yellowish  colour.' 

and  more  books.'    Baretti.     There  =  '  His  frame  was  firm,  his  powers 

is   a   print   of  a   crown-bird  in  the  were  bright, 

Gentlemmi's  Magazine  for  1750,  p.  Though  now  his  eightieth  year 

264,  where  it  is  described  as  '  a  very  was  nigh.' 

stately  fine  fowl,  of  the  bigness  of  a  Life,  iv.  138. 

large   turkey.    Upon  the   top  of  its  ^  Published  in  Croker's  Boswell, 

head  grow  certain  shafts  or  stalks,  page  650.     For  Lord  Westcote,  see 

bearing   little  round   balls   on    their  ante,  i.  177,  n.  4. 

of 


1 88 


To  Lord  Westcote. 


[A.D.  1780. 


of  your  brother,  Lord  Lyttelton.  My  desire  is  to  avoid  offence, 
and  to  be  totally  out  of  danger'.  I  take  the  liberty  of  proposing 
to  your  lordship,  that  the  historical  account  should  be  written 
under  your  direction  by  any  friend  you  may  be  willing  to  employ, 
and  I  will  only  take  upon  myself  to  examine  the  poetry.  Four 
pages  like  those  of  his  work  ^,  or  even  half  so  much,  will  be 
sufficient.  As  the  press  is  going  on,  it  will  be  fit  that  I  should 
know  what  you  shall  be  pleased  to  determine. 

I  am, 

My  Lord, 
Your  lordship's  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

689. 

To  Lord  Westcote  ^ 

My  Lord,  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  July  28,  1780. 

I  wish  it  had  been  convenient  to  have  had  that  done  which 
I  proposed.  I  shall  certainly  not  wantonly  nor  willingly  offend  ■*  ; 
but  when  there  are  such  near  relations  living,  I  had  rather  they 
would  please  themselves.  For  the  life  of  Lord  Lyttelton  I  shall 
need  no  help — it  was  very  public,  and  I  have  no  need  to  be 
minute.  But  I  return  your  lordship  thanks  for  your  readiness  to 
help  me.  I  have  another  life  in  hand,  that  of  Mr.  West^,  about 
which  I  am  quite  at  a  loss  ;  any  information  respecting  him 
would  be  of  great  use  to. 

My  Lord, 
Your  lordship's  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  For  the  offence  which  he  gave, 
see  Life,  iv.  57. 

^  By  'his  work'  Johnson  means, 
I  suppose,  his  History  of  He?t}y  If 
which  was  published  in  quarto. 

^  Published  in  Croker's  Boswell, 
page  650. 

*  He  forgot  this  promise  when  in 
the  Life  he  described  'poor  Lyttel- 
ton with  humble  gratitude  returning 


acknowledgments'    to    the    Critical 
Reviewers. 

^  Gilbert  West.  His  mother  and 
the  mother  of  Lyttelton  and  West- 
cote were  sisters — daughters  of  Sir 
Richard  Temple  of  Stowe.  Burke's 
Peerage.  Johnson,  in  writing  his 
Life,  says  : — '  The  intelligence  which 
my  inquiries  have  gained  is  general 
and  scanty.' 

To 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Tkrale. 


189 


690. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Madam,  London,  August  I,  1780. 

I  had  your  letter  about  Mr.  S and  Miss  O ^ ;  but 

there  was  nothing  to  which  I  had  any  answer,  or  to  which  any 
answer  could  be  made. 

This  afternoon  Dr.  Lawrence  drank  tea,  and,  as  he  always 
does,  asked  about  Mr.  Thrale  ;  I  told  him  how  well  he  was  when 
I  heard  ;  and  he  does  not  eat  too  much,  said  the  Doctor ;  I  said, 
not  often ;  and  the  return  was,  that  he  who  in  that  case  should 
once  eat  too  much,  might  eat  no  more.  I  keep  my  rule  very 
well  ^  and,  I  think^  continue  to  grow  better. 

Tell  my  pretty  dear  Queeney,  that  when  we  meet  again,  we 
will  have,  at  least  for  some  time,  two  lessons  in  a  day.  I  love 
her,  and  think  on  her  when  I  am  alone  ;  hope  we  shall  be  very 
happy  together^  and  mind  our  books. 

Now  August  and  Autumn  are  begun,  and  the  Virgin  takes 
possession  of  the  sky.  Will  the  Virgin  do  any  thing  for  a  man  of 
seventy  ?    I  have  a  great  mind  to  end  my  work  under  the  Virgin  *. 

I  have  sent  two  volumes  to  Mr.  Perkins  to  be  sent  to  you,  and 
beg  you  to  send  them  back  as  soon  as  you  have  all  done  with 
them.  I  let  the  first  volume  get  to  the  Reynolds's,  and  could 
never  get  it  again  ^ 

I  sent  to  Lord  Westcote  about  his  brother's  life,  but  he  says  he 
knows  not  whom  to  employ;  and  is  sure  I  shall  do  him  no 
injury.  There  is  an  ingenious  scheme  to  save  a  day's  work,  or 
part  of  a  day,  utterly  defeated ^  Then  what  avails  it  to  be  wise? 
The  plain  and  the  artful  man  must  both  do  their  own  work. — 
But  I  think  I  have  got  a  life  of  Dr.  Young  ^ 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  172. 

^  Mr.  Scrase  and  Miss  Owen. 

^  Ante,  ii.  143. 

■•  The  sun  enters  Virgo  on  August  23, 
and  leaves  it  on  September  22  or  23. 

^  Sir  Joshua  lost  one  of  the  epi- 
taphs which  Johnson  wrote  for  Gold- 
smith.    Ante,  i.  407. 

'  'When  Johnson  was  publishing 


his  Life  of  Gray^  says  Mr.  Cole,  '  I 
gave  him  several  anecdotes,  but  he 
was  very  anxious  as  soon  as  possible 
to  get  to  the  end  of  his  labours.' 
Matthew  Arnold's  Essays  in  Criti- 
cism, 2nd  series,  1888,  p.  7i' 

'  From  Herbert  Croft.  It  was  of 
this  Life  that  Burke  said  : — '  No,  no, 
it  is  not  a  good  imitation  of  Johnson  ; 

Susy 


igo 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


Susy  and  Sophy  have  had  a  fine  Summer ;  it  is  a  comfort  to 
think  that  somebody  is  happy.  And  they  make  verses,  and  act 
plays'. 

Mrs.  Montague  is,  I  think,  in  town,  and  has  sent  Mrs.  Williams 
her  annuity^;  but  I  hear  nothing  from  her,  but  I  may  be  con- 
tented if  I  hear  from  you,  for 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

691. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  3. 
Dear  Madam,  August  8,  i  780. 

What  do  you  scold  so  for  about  Granville's  life  ;  do  you 

not  see  that  the  appendage  neither  gains  nor  saves  any  thing  to 

me  ?  '^     I  shall  have  Young's  life  given  me,  to  spite  you. 

Methinks  it  was  pity  to  send  the  girls  to  school  ;  they  have 
indeed  had  a  fine  vacation,  dear  loves,  but  if  it  had  been  longer 
it  had  been  still  finer. 

Did  Master  read  my  books  }  You  say  nothing  of  him  in 
this  letter ;  but  I  hope  he  is  well,  and  growing  every  day  nearer 
to  perfect  health.     When  do  you  think  of  coming  home  ? 

I  have  not  yet  persuaded  myself  to  work,  and  therefore  know 
not  when  my  work  will  be  done.  Yet  I  have  a  mind  to 
see  Lichfield.  Dr.  Taylor  seems  to  be  well.  He  has  written  to 
me  without  a  syllable  of  his  lawsuit  ^. 

You  have  heard  in  the  papers  how  *  »  *  is  come  to  age  ;  I 
have  enclosed  a  short  song  of  congratulation,  which  you  must 


it  has  all  his  pomp  without  his  force ; 
it  has  all  the  nodosities  of  the  oak 
without  its  strength  ;  it  has  all  the 
contortions  of  the  Sybil  without  the 
inspiration.'    Life^  iv.  59. 

'  Mrs.  Thrale  wrote  to  Miss  Bur- 
neyon  June  29  : — '  Susan  and  Sophy 
have  taken  to  writing  verses — 'tis  the 
fashion  of  the  school  they  say,  and 
Sophy's  are  the  best  performances 
of  all  the  misses,  except  one  monkey 
of  eighteen  years  old.'  Mme.  D'Ar- 
blay's  Diary,  i.  409. 


==  Ante,  i.  371,  n.  i. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  174. 

""  '  Somebody  offered  to  write  an 
appendage  to  the  Life  of  Granville 
after  his  doing  it ;  but  that  did  not 
square  with  his  idleness,  as  he  wished 
to  save  himself  the  trouble  of  writing 
that  life.'  Baretti.  This  explana- 
tion seems  improbable.  Mrs.  Thrale 
must,  I  think,  have  seen  the  Life 
before  the  additions  mentioned  ante, 
ii.  131. 

^  Ante^  ii.  158. 

not 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


191 


not  show  to  anybody ',  It  is  odd  that  it  should  come  into  any 
body's  head.  I  hope  you  will  read  it  with  candour ;  it  is, 
I  believe,  one  of  the  author's  first  essays  in  that  way  of  writing, 
and  a  beginner  is  always  to  be  treated  with  tenderness. 

My  two  gentlewomen  are  both  complaining.  Mrs.  Desmoulins 
had  a  mind  of  Dr.  Turton  '^ ;  I  sent  for  him,  and  he  has 
prescribed  for  Mrs.  Williams,  but  I  do  not  find  that  he  promises 
himself  much  credit  from  either  of  them. 

I  hope  it  will  not  be  long  before  I  shall  have  another  little 
volume  for  you,  and  still  there  will  be  work  undone.  If  it  were 
not  for  these  Lives,  I  think  I  could  not  forbear  coming  to  look 
at  you,  now  you  have  room  for  me.  But  I  still  think  to  stay 
till  I  have  cleared  my  hands. 

Queeney  is  not  good.  She  seldom  writes  to  me,  and  )'et 
I  love  her.  and  I  love  you  all,  for 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


692. 

To  Mrs.  Thr.4.le  3. 
Dear  Madam,  August  14, 1780. 

I     hope     my   dear    Oueeney's   suspicions   are  groundless. 

Whenever  any  alteration  of  manner  happens,  I  believe  a  small 

cathartick  will  set  all  right  ^. 

I  hope  you  have  no  design  of  stealing  away  to  Italy  before 


'  The  song  was  on  Sir  John  Lade, 
Mr.  Thrale's  nephew.  In  the  Gentle- 
mati's  Magazine  for  1759,  p.  392, 
among  the  Births  is  recorded  on 
August  I : — *  Relict  of  Sir  John  Lade, 
Bt.,  of  a  son  and  heir,  who  is  im- 
mediately entitled  to  a  veiy  large 
estate.'  Johnson,  a  fortnight  before 
he  died,  repeated  the  song  '  with 
great  spirit,  saying  he  had  never 
repeated  it  but  once  since  he  com- 
posed it,  and  had  given  but  one  copy 
of  it.'     It  is  printed  in  the  Lz/e,  iv. 

413- 


-  For  the  phrase  '  to  have  a  mind 
of  a.  person  or  thing,'  see  ante,  i.  314, 
343.  Turton  attended  Goldsmith  on 
his  death-bed.  'When  Goldsmith 
was  dying.  Dr.  Turton  said  to  him, 
"Your  pulse  is  in  greater  disorder 
than  it  should  be,  from  the  degree  of 
fever  which  you  have  :  is  your  mind 
at  ease  ? "  Goldsmith  answered  it 
was  not.'   Life,  iii.  164. 

^  Piozsi  Letters,  ii.  176. 

"  The  suspicions,  no  doubt,  were 
about  a  change  for  the  worse  in  Mr. 
Thrale's  health. 

the 


192 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1780. 


the  election,  nor  of  leaving  me  behind  you '  ;  though  I  am  not 
only  Seventy,  but  Seventy-one^.  Could  not  you  let  me  lose  a 
year  in  round  numbers  ?     Sweetly,  sweetly,  sings  Dr.  Swift, 

Some  dire  misfortune  to  portend, 
No  enemy  can  match  a  friend^. 

But  what  if  I  am  Seventy-two ;  I  remember  Sulpitius  says  of 
Saint  Martin  (now  that's  above  your  reading),  Est  animus  victor 
annortmi,  et  sencctitti  cedere  itesciiis'^.  Match  me  that  among 
your  young  folks.  If  you  try  to  plague  me,  I  shall  tell  you  that, 
according  to  Galen,  life  begins  to  decline  from  Thirty-Jive  ^ 


'  '  A  man  who  has  not  been  in 
Italy,'  said  Johnson,  '  is  always  con- 
scious of  an  inferiority,  from  his  not 
having  seen  what  it  is  expected  a 
man  should  see.'  Life,  iii.  36.  They 
had  been  on  the  point  of  going  there 
in  1776,  but  had  abandoned  their 
intention  on  the  sudden  death  of 
Mr.  Thrale's  son.  Ante,  i.  389.  Miss 
Burney  records  on  March  23,  1781, 
that  '  Mr.  Thrale  had  resolved  upon 
going  abroad  ;  first  to  Spa,  next  to 
Italy,  and  then  whither  his  fancy  led 
him  !  that  Dr.  Johnson  was  to  ac- 
company them.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  ii.  li.  Thrale's  death,  which 
followed  within  a  fortnight,  for  a 
second  time  barred  Johnson's  hopes 
of  seeing  Italy.  In  the  last  year  of 
his  life,  for  the  third  time,  a  prospect 
opened  before  him  of  visiting  that 
country,  but  it  came  to  nothing. 
Life,  iv.  336. 

""  He  was  not  yet  seventy-one. 

*  'Some  great  misfortune  to  por- 

tend. 
No  enemy  can  match  a  friend.' 
Swift's  Works,  ed.  1803,  xi.  243. 

*  Saint  Martin  was  Bishop  of 
Tours  in  the  fourth  century.  '  The 
saint,'  writes  Gibbon,  '  once  mistook 
(as  Don  Quixote  might  have  done) 
an  harmless  funeral  for  an  idola- 
trous   procession,   and    imprudently 


committed  a  miracle.'  Decline  and 
Fall,  ed.  1807,  v.  88.  Johnson's  quo- 
tation is  from  the  Third  Epistle  of 
Sulpicius  Severus.  The  dying  Saint 
is  represented  as  saying  : — '  Sub 
signis  tuis,  quoadusque  ipse  jusseris, 
militabo ;  et  quamvis  optata  sit  seni 
missio  post  laborem,  est  tamen  ani- 
mus victor  annorum,_et  cedere  nescius 
senectuti.'  Bibliotheca  Patrian  La- 
tina  Patrologi<z,  xx.  182. 

^  'As  I  went  into  his  room  the 
morning  of  my  birthday  once,  and 
said  to  him,  "  Nobody  sends  me 
any  verses  now  because  I  am  thirty- 
five  years  old  ;  and  Stella  was  fed 
with  them  till  forty-six,"  he  burst  out 
suddenly : — 

"  Oft  in  danger,  yet  alive, 
We  are  come  to  thirty-five ; 
Long  may  better  years  arrive, 
Better  years  than  thirty-five. 
Could  philosophers  contrive 
Life  to  stop  at  thirty-five. 
Time  his  hours  should  never  drive 
O'er  the  bounds  of  thirty-five. 
High  to  soar  and  deep  to  dive, 
Nature  gives  at  thirty-five. 
Ladies,  stock  and  tend  your  hive, 
Trifle  not  at  thirty-five. 
For  howe'er  we  boast  and  strive 
Life  declines  from  thirty-five. 
He  that  ever  hopes  to  thrive 
Must  begin  by  thirty-five  ; 

But 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Mts.  \Miss\  Pvowse.  19 


o 


But  as  we  go  off,  others  come  on :  Queeney's  last  letter  was 
very  pretty.  What  a  hussey  she  is  to  write  so  seldom.  She 
has  no  events,  then  let  her  write  sentiment  as  you  and  I  do  ; 
and  sentiment  you  know  is  inexhaustible. 

If  you  want  events,  here  is  Mr.  Levet  just  come  in  at  four- 
score from  a  walk  to  Hampstead,  eight  miles,  in  August.  This, 
however,  is  all  that  I  have  to  tell  you,  except  that  I  have  three 
bunches  of  grapes  on  a  vine  in  my  garden  ^  ;  at  least,  this  is  all 
that  I  will  now  tell  of  my  garden. 

Both  my  females  are  ill,  both  very  ill ;  Mrs.  Desmoulins 
thought  that  she  wished  for  Dr.  Turton "  ;  and  I  sent  for  him, 
and  then  took  him  to  Mrs.  Williams,  and  he  prescribes  for  both, 
though  without  much  hope  of  benefiting  either.  Yet  physick  has 
its  powers :  you  see  that  I  am  better  ;  and  Mr.  Shaw  ^  will 
maintain,  that  he  and  I  saved  my  master.  But  if  he  is  to  live 
always  away  from  us,  what  did  we  get  by  saving  him  ?  If  we 
cannot  live  together,  let  us  hear ;  when  I  have  no  letter  from 
Brighthelmston,  think  how  I  fret,  and  write  oftener ;  you  write 
to  this  body  and  to  that,  and  nobody  loves  you  like 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

I 

693. 

Madam,  ^^  ^'^^^  ^^^'^^^  Prowse^ 

For  the  loss  which  you  have  suffered  I  will  not  recall  your 
grief  by  the  formality  of  condolence.      I  believe  all   to  whom 

And  all  who  wisely  wish  to  wive  Court  was  a  garden  which  he  took 

Must  look  on  Thrale   at  thirty-  delight     in     watering.'       Hawkins's 

five.  Johnson,    p.    531.     'He    sometimes 

And    now,"    said    he,    "  as    I    was  employed   himself  in   watering  and 

writing   them   down,   you    may   see  pruning  a  vine.'  Life,  iii.  398.  '  Lord 

what  it  is  to  come  for  poetry  to  a  Eldon  often  speaks  of  the  fine  fruit 

Dictionary-maker  ;  you  may  observe  of  Gower    Street,  when  he  lived  in 

that  the  rhymes  run  in  alphabetical  the  house  now  No.  42.'    Nollekens 

order  exactly.'"    Piozzi's  Anecdotes,  and  his  Times,  i.  33. 

p.  164.     Stella  was  not  quite  forty-  ^  Ante,  ii.  191,?/.  2. 

six  when  she  died.  Swift  wrote  verses  ^  A  Mr.  Shaw  is  mentioned  ante, 

on  her  last  birthday,  March  13, 1726-7.  i.  397- 

Swift's  Works,  ed.  1803,  xi.  21.  "  First   published    in    Notes    and 

'  '  Behind  Johnson's  house  in  Bolt  Queries,  4th  S.  v.  441.     Copied  by 

VOL.  IL                                          o  Mrs. 


194 


To  Mrs.   \J\Iiss\  Prozuse. 


[A.D.  1780. 


Mrs.  Prowse  was  known,  consider  the  world  as  deprived  by  her 
departure  of  a  very  bright  and  eminent  example. 

The  allowance  which  she  was  pleased  to  make  towards  the 
maintenance  of  the  unhappy  girl,  has  been  long  discontinued, 
how  long^  I  really  do  not  know,  and  am  afraid  of  favouring  my- 
self by  a  conjectural  account. 

Not  knowing  whether  the  payment  was  withheld  by  negligence 
or  intention,  I  sometimes  purposed  to  have  written  to  the 
Lady,  but  never  did  it.  Perhaps  your  accounts  can  set  you 
right. 

It  may  be,  Madam,  in  your  power,  to  gratify  my  curiosity. 
Your  servants,  I  suppose,  go  frequently  to  Froome  \  and  it  will 
be  thought  by  me  a  favour  if  you  will  be  pleased  to  bid  them 
collect  any  little  tradition  that  may  yet  remain,  of  one  Johnson, 
who  more  than  forty  years  ago  was  for  a  short  time  a  Book- 
binder or  Stationer  in  that  town  ^  Such  intelligence  must  be 
gotten  by  accident,  and  therefore  cannot  be  immediately 
expected,  but  perhaps  in  time  somebody  may  be  found  that 
knew  him. 


me  from  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Rev.  Edward  B.  Edgell 
of  Bromham  Rectory,  Chippenham. 
Miss  Prowse,  Johnson's  correspond- 
ent, married  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Rogers, 
Mr.  Edgell's  great-uncle. 

The  '  unhappy  girl '  about  whom 
Johnson  writes  was  a  lunatic — his 
first  cousin  according  to  Hawkins 
(Hawkins's  Johnson,  p.  603)  ;  who 
adds  that  '  upon  her  discharge  from 
Bethlem  Hospital  as  incurable,  he 
had  placed  her  in  a  mad-house  at 
Bethnal  Green.'  Johnson  in  his  letter 
of  February  17,  1784,  calls  her 
Phoebe  Heme,  and  in  his  will, 
Elizabeth  Heme.  Life,  iv.  403.  He 
does  not  mention  any  relatinnship. 
The  bills  for  her  keeping,  says  Haw- 
kins, amounted  to  ^25  a  year,  to- 
wards which  '  Mrs.  Prowse  had  be- 
queathed her  an  annuity  of  ^10.'  It 
is  clear  from  the  above  letter  that 


during  her  life-time  Mrs.  Prowse  had 
made  her  an  allowance,  though  she 
had  discontinued  it  for  some  years. 
On  the  third  sheet,  which  is  blank, 
is  written  : — '  Not  finding  in  my 
Mother's  Books  any  acct.  of  the 
money,  having  been  paid  for  six 
years  I  sent  him  the  whole.'  See 
also/^,9/,  Letters  of  May  7,  1781,  and 
June  4,  1782. 

'  Johnson's  frequent  indifference 
to  the  spelling  of  proper  names  is 
shown  in  this  letter,  for,  while  here 
he  writes  Froome,  in  the  direction  he 
spells  it  Frome. 

-  See. posf,  Letter  of  December  9, 
1780,  for  a  further  account  of  this 
man,  and  Letter  of  November  29, 
1784,  for  Johnson's  inquiries  after  his 
relations.  See  also  his  will  for  his 
legacies  to  such  as  he  could  discover. 
Life,  iv.  403. 

The 


Aetat.  70.]  To  John  NicJiols.  195 

The  great  civility  of  your  letter  has  encouraged  me  to  this 
request. 

The  money '  which  your  excellent  Mother's  liberality  makes 

payable  to  me  may  be  remitted  by  a  note  on  a  Banker,  or  on 

the  Bank  to, 

Madam, 

Your  most  humble  Servant, 

Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  London.  SaM:  JohNSON. 

August  14,  1780. 

694. 

To  John  Nichols  ^ 

There  is  a  copy  of  verses  by  Fenton  on  the  fi^'st  jit  of  the  gotit, 
in  Pope's  miscellanies,  and  I  think,  in  the  last  volumes  of 
Dryden.     In  Pope's  I  am  sure. 

To  Mr.  Nicol. 

695. 

To  John  Nichols. 

I  should  have  given  Fenton's  birth  to  Shelton  in  Staffordshire, 
but  that  I  am  afraid  there  is  no  such  place  ^.     The  rest  I  have, 

'  The  annuity  for  the  mad  girl.  JOHNSON.'  The  most  humorous 
=  This  and  the  next  four  Letters  couplet  is  the  following  : — 
were  first  published  in  the  Gentle-  '  Thou  that  dost  oft  from  pampered 
mafi's  Magazine  for  1785,  page  10,  prelate's  toe 
where  Nichols  says  in  a  note  that  Emphaticallyurge  the  pains  below.' 
'  The  verses  C/z ///^  Ct*/// are  printed  Fenton  died  of  the  gout — 'of  in- 
from  Fenton's  Collection  in  the  Select  dolence  and  inactivity,'  as  Pope 
Collection,  1780,  vol.  iii.  p.  177.'  wrote  to  Gay.  (Elwin  and  Court- 
By. 'Dryden'  Johnson  no  doubt  hope's  Pope,  vii.  436.)  'A  woman 
means  Miscellany  Poejns,  By  the  that  once  waited  on  him  in  a  lodging 
most  eminent  Hands.  Published  by  told  him,  as  she  said,  that  he  would 
Mr.  Dryden.  The  first  edition  was  "lie  a-bed,  and  be  fed  with  a  spoon."' 
brought  out  when  Fenton  was  an  Johnson's  Works,  viii.  58.  Never- 
infant,  but  after  Dryden's  death  theless  Pope  in  his  Epitaph  on  him 
many  pieces  were  added  and  several  says,  he 

omitted.     Lowndes's  Bibl.  Man.,  p.  '  From  Nature's  temp'rate  feast  rose 

678.     Fenton's  verses  are  inserted  in  satisfy'd.'                    lb.  p.  358 

the  English  Poets,   ed.  1790,  xxxv.  ^  '  Shelton,  a  township  and  chap- 

378,  with  the  following  note  :— '  The  elry  in  the  parish  and  newly-erected 

compilers  having  omitted  some  pretty  borough  of  Stoke-upon-Trent,  County 

verses  I  have  put  them  in  here.    Dr.  of  Stafford,  two  miles  E.  N.E.  from 

O  2                                            except 


1 96  To  John  Nichols.  [a.d.  1780. 

except  his  Secretaryship,  of  which  I  know  not  what  to  make. 
When  Lord  Orrery  was  in  office,  Lewis  was  his  Secretary. 
Lewis  lived  in  my  time ;  I  knew  him  '.  The  Gout  verses  were 
always  given  to  Fenton,  when  I  was  young,  and  he  was  living. 
Lord  Orrery  told  me  that  Fenton  was  his  tutor  ;  but  never 
thought  he  was  his  Father's  Secretary  ^  Pray  let  me  see 
the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  [Verses]  &c.  [1707]-  If  7°^ 
are  sure  it  was  published  by  Fenton  I  should  take  notice 
of  it  ^ 


696. 

To  John  Nichols. 

[?  Summer  of  1780.] 

Mr.  Johnson  desires  Mr.  Nicols  to  send  him 

Rufifhead's  life  of  Pope  \ 
Pope^s  Works. 

Swift's  Works  with  Dr.  JJawkesworth's  life  ^. 
Lyttelton's  Works, 
and  with  these  he  hopes  to  have  done. 
The  first  to  be  got  is  Lyttelton. 

Newcastle- under- Lyme,  containing  ^  '  He  published  in  1707  a  col- 
with  the  hamlet  of  Etruria  and  part  lection  of  poems.'  lb.  p.  56.  It  was 
of  Cobridge,  9267  inhabitants.'  in  171 7  that  this  collection  was  pub- 
Lewis's  Top.  Diet,  of  England,  ed.  lished  under  the  title  of  Poeins  on 
1835.  Fenton,  in  his  Latin  epitaph  Several  Occasions. 
on  his  father,  describes  him  as  *  *  Dr.  Johnson  censured  Ruff- 
*  Johannes  Fenton  de  Shelton.'  John-  head's  Life  of  Pope,  and  said,  "  he 
son's  Works,  viii.  54.  knew  nothing  of  Pope,  and  nothing 

'  Perhaps  he  was  'Mr.  F.  Lewis'  of  poetry.'"   Life,  ii.  166. 

who  translated  some  of  the  mottoes  ^  Johnson  begins  his  Life  of  Swift 

to  the  7?^jw(!'/^/', '  whom  Johnson  thus  by    saying: — 'An    account    of    Dr. 

described  to  Mr.  Malone  :— "  Sir,  he  Swift  has  been  already  collected  with 

lived    in    London,   and    hung    loose  great  diligence  and  acuteness  by  Dr. 

upon  society."  '    Life,  i.  226.  llawkesworth,  according  to  a  scheme 

^  *  Fenton  was  awhile  secretary  to  which  I   laid  before  him  in  the  in- 

Charles,  Earl  of  Orrery,  in  Flanders,  timacy  of  our  friendship.'     On  Sep- 

and   tutor   to   his    young    son,    who  tcmber  18  of  this  year  Johnson  re- 

afterwards  mentioned  him  with  great  corded  in  his  Diary  :— '  I  have  Swift 

esteem  and  tenderness.'     Johnson's  and    Pope    yet   to   write;    Swift    is 

Works,  viii.  55.  just  begun.'   Pr.  and  Med.,  p.  185. 

To 


Aetat.  70.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


197 


697. 

To  John  Nichols.  [Summer  of  1780.] 

Mr.  Johnson  being  now  at  home  desh-es  the  last  leaves  of  the 

Criticism  on  Pope's  Epitaphs,  and  he  will  correct  them '. 

Mr.  Nichol   is  entreated  to  save  the  proof   Sheets  of  Pope 

because   they   are   promised  to  a   Lady  who   desires   to   have 

them  ^. 


698. 

To  John  Nichols. 
Sir,  [August  16,  1780^] 

I  expected  to  have  found  a  life  of  Lord  Lyttelton  prefixed 

to  his  Works.      Is  there    not  one  before  the   quarto    Edition? 

I    think    there    is — if    not,    I    am   with   respect   to    him,    quite 

aground. 


Wednesday. 


699. 


To  Mrs.  Thrale'*. 
Dear  Madam,  August  18, 1780. 

I  lost  no  time,  and  have  enclosed  our  conversation.     You 

write   of    late   very    seldom.       I    wish    you    would    write   upon 

subjects''',    any  thing    to    keep  alive.     You   have   your   beaux. 


'  This  criticism  Johnson  had  first 
published  in  1756  in  The  Universal 
Visitor:  Life,  i.  306.  He  added  it 
to  his  Life  of  Pope. 

^  It  was  to  Miss  Burney  that  he 
gave  them.  In  her  Memoirs  of  Dr. 
Burney,  ii.  178,  she  says  that  Dr. 
Burney  wished  to  have  a  proof  sheet, 
'  but  left  to  his  daughter  the  risk  of 
the  petition.  A  hint  however  proved 
sufficient.  He  offered  an  entire  Life, 
adding  with  a  benignant  smile, 
"  Choose  your  poet."  Without  hesi- 
tation the  choice  was  Pope.  He 
composed  with  so  ready  an  accuracy 
that  he  sent  his  copy  to  the  press 
unread,  reserving  all  his  corrections 
for   the    proof  sheets ;    and    conse- 


quently they  were  at  times  liberally 
marked  with  changes.'  Boswell  had 
been  promised  the  proof  sheets.  Life, 
iii.  371.  He  was  presented  with  the 
greatest  part  of  the  manuscript.  Lb. 
iv.  36. 

^  The  date  is  in  Nichols's  hand- 
writing. 

There  is  no  Life  prefixed  to  the 
quarto  edition  of  Lyttelton's  Works. 

"  Piossi  Letters,  ii.  179. 

^  In  his  last  letter  to  her  he  had 
said  : — '  Queeney  has  no  events,  then 
let  her  write  sentiment  as  you  and  I 
do ;  and  sentiment,  you  know,  is 
inexhaustible.'  Apparently  it  had 
proved  exhaustible  on  her  side. 

and 


198  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1780. 

and  your  flatterers,  and  here  am  poor  I  forced  to  flatter  myself ; 

and  any  good  of  myself  I  am  not  very  easy  to  believe,  so  that  I 

really  live  but  a  sorry  life.     What  shall  I  do  with  Lyttelton's 

life  ?  I  can  make  a  short  life,  and  a  short  criticism,  and  conclude. 

Why  did  not  you  like  Collins,  and  Gay,  and  Blackmore',  as  well 

as  Akenside?  ^  ,^    , 

I  am.  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

700. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Beattie. 
Bolt  Court,  August  21,  1780.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  434. 

701. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  August  21,  1780.     Published  in  the  Life,  iii.  435. 

702. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  August  24,  1780. 

I  do  not  wonder  that  you  can  think  and  write  but  of 
one  thing.  Yet  concerning  that  thing  you  may  be  less  uneasy, 
as  you  are  now  in  the  right  way.  You  are  at  least  doing,  what 
I  was  always  desirous  to  have  you  do,  and  which,  when  despair 
put  an  end  to  the  caution  of  men  going  in  the  dark,  produced 
at  last  all  the  good  that  has  been  obtained.  Gentle  purges,  and 
slight  phlebotomies,  are  not  my  favourites  ;  they  are  pop-gun 
batteries  ^,  which  lose  time  and  effect  nothing.  It  was  by  bleed- 
ing till  he  fainted,  that  his  life  was  saved  ^     I  would,  however, 

'  She  replied  :—'^/fl^/^;«^r^'^  Zz/^  "  Mrs.  Piozzi  has  the  following  note 

is  admirable  ;  who  says  I  don't  like  on  this  : — '  Here  is  another  allusion 

it  ?    I  like  all  the  Whig  Lives  pro-  to     that     famous     bleeding     which 

digiously.'   Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  182.  certainly  in  Southwark  did  save  the 

*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  185.  life  of  Mr.  Thrale,  and  by  its  im- 

^  '  Life  is  not  weak  enough  to  be  mediate  effects  ruined  my  nerves  for 

destroyed  by  this  popgun  artillery  of  ever.'    Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  302.    In 

tea  and  coffee.' — Cheyne.     Quoted  spiteof  her  ruined  nerves  she  married 

in  Johnson's  Dictionary  under  Pop-  a  second  time  and  lived  till  she  was 

gun,  eighty.     '  Twenty  years    passed    in 

now 


Aetat.  70.]  To  Alrs.  TkraU.  199 

now  have  him  trust  chiefly  to  vigorous  and  stimulating  cathartics. 
To  bleed,  is  only  proper  when  there  is  no  time  for  slower 
remedies. 

Does  he  sleep  in  the  night  ?  if  he  sleeps,  there  is  not  much 
danger ;  any  thing  like  wakefulness  in  a  man  either  by  nature  or 
habit  so  uncommonly  sleepy,  would  put  me  in  great  fear.  Do 
not  now  hinder  him  from  sleeping  whenever  heaviness  comes 
upon  him.  Quiet  rest,  light  food,  and  strong  purges,  will, 
I  think,  set  all  right.     Be  you  vigilant,  but  be  not  frighted. 

Of  Mr.  R '    I  very  well    remember   all   but   the   name. 

'  He  had  a  nice  discernment  of  loss  and  gain.'  This  I  thought 
a  power  not  hard  to  be  attained.  What  kept  him  out  then 
must  keep  him  out  now ;  the  want  of  a  place  for  him.     Mr. 

P ^  then  observed,  that  there  was  nothing  upon  which  he 

could  be  employed.    Matters  will  never  be  carried  to  extremities. 

Mr.  P cannot  be  discharged,  and  he  will   never  suffer  a 

superiour.  That  voluntary  submission  to  a  new  mind  is  not  a 
heroick  quality;  but  it  has  always  been  among  us,  and  therefore 
I  mind  it  less  ^. 

The  expedition  to  foreign  parts  you  will  not  much  encourage, 
and  you  need  not,  I  think,  make  any  great  effort  to  oppose  it ; 
for  it  is  as  likely  to  put  us  out  of  the  way  to  mischief,  as 
to  bring  us  into  it.  We  can  have  no  projects  in  Italy.  Exercise 
may  relieve  the  body,  and  variety  will  amuse  the  mind.  The 
expence  will  not  be  greater  than  at  home  in  the  regular  course 

of  life.     And  we  shall  be  safe  from  B and  G ,  and  all 

instigators  to  schemes  of  waste.     Si  te  fata  ferant,  fcr  fata. 

Piozzi's  enchanting  society  seemed,'  designs  on  Mr.  Thrale's  purse. 

she   said,   '  hke    a   happy  dream  of  -  Perkins,  no  doubt, 

twenty  hours.'     lb.  p.  305.  ^  See   irnte,   i.   1 92,  n.  3,  for   the 

'  Mrs.    Thrale     had     written     to  way  in  which  Mr.  Thrale  had  been 

Johnson  on  the  20th: — 'We  had  a  duped.     'Some  fellow,'  writes  Mrs. 

visit   yesterday    from    Mr.    R ;  Piozzi,    'had   incited   our  master   to 

whom  perhaps  you  remember,  begin  a  new  and  expensive  building 
perhaps  not :  but  our  morning  con-  to  the  amount  of  /"20,ooo,  after  the 
versation  with  him  will  not  be  easily  progress  of  which  he  was  ever  in- 
forgotten  by  me,  I  thought  it  would  quisitive,  and  kept  the  plan  of  it  in 
drive  me  wild  upon  the  spot.'  Fiozzi  his  bedchamber."  Hayward's  Piozzi^ 
Letters,  ii.  180.  He  was  probably  i.  302. 
some  schemer  or  projector  who  had 

The 


200  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  i78o. 

The  chief  wish  that  I  form  is,  that  Mr.  Thrale  could  be  made 
to  understand  his  true  state  ;  to  know  that  he  is  tottering  upon 
a  point ;  to  consider  every  change  of  his  mental  character  as  the 
symptom  of  a  disease  ;  to  distrust  any  opinions  or  purposes  that 
shoot  up  in  his  thoughts  ;  to  think  that  violent  mirth  is  the 
foam,  and  deep  sadness  the  subsidence  of  a  morbid  fermentation  ; 
to  watch  himself,  and  counteract  by  experienced  remedies  every 
new  tendency,  or  uncommon  sensation.  This  is  a  new  and 
an  ungrateful  employment  ;  but  without  this  self-examinatioii 
he  never  can  be  safe.  You  must  try  to  teach  it,  and  he  to  learn 
it  gradually,  and  in  this  my  sweet  Oueeney  must  help  you  ;  I  am 
glad  to  hear  of  her  vigilance  and  observation.    She  is  my  pupil. 

I  suppose  the   S scheme  is  now  past ;    I  saw  no  great 

harm  in  it,  though  perhaps  no  good.  Do  not  suffer  little  things 
to  embarrass  you.  Our  great  work  is  constant  temperance, 
and  frequent,  very  frequent  evacuation ;  and  that  they  may  not 
be  interrupted,  conviction  of  their  necessity  is  to  be  prudently 
inculcated  '. 

I  am  not  at  present  so  much  distressed  as  you,  because 
I  think  your  present  method  likely  to  be  efficacious.  Dejection 
may  indeed  follow,  and  I  should  dread  it  from  too  copious 
bleeding  ;  for  as  purges  are  more  under  command,  and  more 
concurrent  with  the  agency  of  nature,  they  seldom  effect 
any  irremediable  change.  However,  we  must  expect  after  such  a 
disease,  that  the  mind  will  fluctuate  long  before  it  finds  its  center. 

I  will  not  tell  you,  nor  Master,  nor  Queeney,  how  I  long  to  be 
among  you  ;  but  I  would  be  glad  to  know  when  we  are  to 
meet,  and  hope  our  meeting  will  be  cheerful. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

703. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  August  25,  1780. 

Yesterday  I  could  write  but  about  one  thing.     I  am  sorry 

'  What  taste  in  a  woman  to  publish      treatment  proper  for  her  husband  ! 
these  and  suchlike  passages  about  the  '-'  Piozsi  Letters,  \\.  1S9. 

to 


Aetat.  70.]  To    MvS.     TJlJ'ak.  201 

to  find  from  my  dear  Queeney's  letter  to-day,  that  Mr.  Thrale's 
sleep  was  too  much  shortened.  He  begins  however  now,  she 
says,  to  recover  it.  Sound  sleep  will  be  the  surest  token  of 
returning  health.  The  swelling  of  his  legs  has  nothing  in 
it  dangerous ;  it  is  the  natural  consequence  of  lax  muscles,  and 
when  the  laxity  is  known  to  be  artificial,  need  not  give  any 
uneasiness.  I  told  you  so  formerly.  Every  thing  that  I  have 
told  you  about  my  dear  master  has  been  true.  Let  him  take 
purgatives,  and  let  him  sleep.  Bleeding  seems  to  have  been 
necessary  now ;  but  it  was  become  necessary  only  by  the 
omission  of  purges.     Bleeding  is  only  for  exigences. 

I  wish  you  or  Oueeney  would  write  to  me  every  post  while 
the  danger  lasts.  I  will  come  if  I  can  do  any  good,  or  prevent 
any  evil. 

For  any  other  purpose,  I  suppose,  now  poor  Sam  :  may  be 
spared  ;  you  are  regaled  with  Greek  and  Latin,  and  you  are 
Thralia  Castalio  semper  amata  cJwro  ;  and  you  have  a  daughter 
equal  to  yourself.  I  shall  have  enough  to  do  with  one  and  the 
other.  Your  admirer  has  more  Greek  than  poetry;  he  was 
however  worth  the  conquest,  though  you  had  conquered 
me.  Whether  you  can  hold  him  as  fast,  there  may  be  some 
dram  of  a  scritpW,  for  he  thinks  you  have  full  tongue  enough, 
as  appears  by  some  of  his  verses  ;  he  will  leave  you  for  some- 
body that  will  let  him  take  his  turn,  and  then  I  may  come 
in  again  :  for,  I  tell  you,  nobody  loves  you  so  well,  and  therefore 
never  think  of  changing  like  the  moon,  and  being  constant  only 
m  your  inconstancy  ^. 

I  have  not  dined  out  for  some  time  but  with  Renny  or 
Sir  Joshua  ;  and  next  week  Sir  Joshua  goes  to  Devonshire^,  and 
Renny  to  Richmond,  and  I  am  left  by  myself  I  wish  I  could 
say  n7inqiiam  minus,  &^c.  ■*,  but  I  am  not  diligent. 

'  '  No  dram  of  a  scruple.'   Twelfth  ^  See  Leslie  and  Taylor's  Life  of 

Night,  Act  iii.  sc.  4.  Reyttolds,  ii.  305.     In  her  brother's 

"  '  The  world's  a  scene  of  changes  ;  absence  Miss  Reynolds   very  likely 

and  to  be  stayed  at  his  house  at  Richmond. 

Constant  in  Nature  were  incon-  "  '  P.  Scipionem,  Marce  fili,  eum 

stancy.'  qui  primus  Africanus  appellatus  est, 

Cowley.     Inconstancy :  Johnson's  dicere  solitum  scripsit  Cato,  qui  fuit 

English  Poets,  ed.  1790,  viii.  13.  ejus  fere  aequalis,  numquam  se  minus 

I  am 


202 


To   Viscountess  Southwell. 


[A.  D.  1780. 


I  am  afraid  that  I  shall  not  see  Lichfield  this  year,  yet 
it  would  please  me  to  shew  my  friends  how  much  better  I  am 
grown :  but  I  am  not  grown,  I  am  afraid,  less  idle  ;  and 
of  idleness  I  am  now  paying  the  fine  by  having  no  leisure. 

Does  the  expedition  to  Sir  John  Shelly's  'go  on  ?     The  first 

week    of  September   is    now   at    no   great   distance ;    nor    the 

eighteenth  day,  which  concludes  another  of  my  wretched  years  ^. 

It  is  time  to  have  done.  ,  o 

1  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

704. 

To  A  Young  Clergyman. 
Bolt  Court,  August  30,  1780.     Published  in  the  Life^  iii.  436. 


705. 

To  Viscountess  Southwell^. 

Madam,  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  Sept.  9,  1780. 

Among  the  numerous  addresses  of  condolence  which  your 
great  loss  must  have  occasioned,  be  pleased  to  receive  this  from 
one  whose  name  perhaps  you  have  never  heard,  and  to  whom 
your  ladyship  is  known  only  by  the  reputation  of  your  virtue, 
and  to  whom  your  lord  was  known  only  by  his  kindness  and 
beneficence. 

Your  ladyship  is  now  again  summoned  to  exert  that  piety  of 
which  you  once  gave,  in  a  state  of  pain  and  danger,  so  illustrious 
an  example*;  and  your  lord's  beneficence  may  be  still  con- 
tinued by  those  who  with  his  fortune  inherit  his  virtues. 


otiosum  esse  quam  quum  otiosus, 
nee  minus  solum  quam  quum  solus 
esset.' — Cicero.  De  Officiis,  iii.  i. 
Burton,  introducing  the  quotation  in 
the  Anatomy  of  Melancholy^  ed. 
1660,  p.  89,  translates  it  : — '  Never 
less  solitary  than  when  he  was  alone, 
never  more  busy  than  when  he  seemed 
to  be  most  idle.' 

'  A7ite,  ii.  44,  73. 

''  On  his  birth-day  he  recorded  : — 
'  I  am  now  beginning  the  seventy- 
second   year  of  my  life   with    more 


strength  of  body  and  greater  vigour 
of  mind  than  I  think  is  common  at 
that  age.'     Pr.  and  Med.,  p.  185. 

^  First  published  in  Malone's  Bos- 
ivell.  Viscountess  Southwell  was 
the  wife  of  Thomas  George,  third 
Baron  and  first  Viscount  Southwell, 
who  died  on  August  29  of  this  year. 
Debrett's  Peerage,  ed.  1820,  ii.  1135. 

■•  'The  "illustrious  example  of 
piety  and  fortitude "  to  which  Dr. 
Johnson  alludes,  was  the  submitting, 
when    past  her   fiftieth  year,  to   an 

I  hcjpc 


Aetat.  70.]  To   William  Strahan.  203 

I  hope  to  be  forgiven  the  liberty  which  I  shall  take  of  inform- 
ing your  ladyship,  that  Mr.  Mauritius  Lowe,  a  son  of  your  late 
lord^s  father ',  had,  by  my  recommendation  to  your  lord,  a  quar- 
terly allowance  of  ten  pounds,  the  last  of  which,  due  July  26,  he 
has  not  received  :  he  was  in  hourly  hope  of  his  remittance,  and 
flattered  himself  that  on  October  26,  he  should  have  received 
the  whole  half-year's  bounty,  when  he  was  struck  with  the 
dreadful  news  of  his  benefactor's  death. 

May  I  presume  to  hope,  that  his  want,  his  relation,  and  his 
merit,  which  excited  his  lordship's  charity,  will  continue  to  have 
the  same  effect  upon  those  whom  he  has  left  behind ;  and  that, 
though  he  has  lost  one  friend,  he  may  not  yet  be  destitute. 
Your  ladyship's  charity  cannot  easily  be  exerted  where  it  is 
wanted  more ;  and  to  a  mind  like  yours,  distress  is  a  sufficient 
recommendation. 

I  hope  to  be  allowed  the  honour  of  being, 

Madam,  &c.. 
To  Viscountess  Southwell,  Dublin.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 


706. 

To  William  Strahan  ^ 
Sir, 

Having  lost  our  Election  at  Southwark  we  are  looking  for 
a  Borough  less  uncertain  ^  If  you  can  find  by  enquiry  any  seat 
to  be  had,  as  seats  are  had  without  natural  interest,  you  will  by 
giving  immediate  notice  do  a  great  favour  to  Mr.  Thrale.  The 
messenger  shall  call  to-morrow  for  your  answer.     There  are,  I 

extremely  painful  surgical  operation,  ^  The  poll  did   not  close  till   two 

which  she  endured  with  extraordinary  days  after  Johnson  wrote   {ante,  ii. 

firmness  and  composure,  not  allow-  154,  n.  2);   but  Thrale    was    so  far 

ing   herself  to  be  tied  to  her  chair,  behind  the  other  two  candidates  that 

nor     uttering     a    single     moan.'  —  his    defeat    was    certain.       Johnson 

Malone.  wrote  to  Boswell  on  October  17  : — 

'  Ante,  ii.  66,  and  post,  Letter  of  '  Mr.  Thrale's  loss  of  health  has  lost 

October  22,  1782.  him  the  election.'   Life,  iii.  442.    For 

^  From  the  original  in  the  posses-  Johnson's    identification   of    himself 

sion  of  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison  of  Font-  with   the   Thrales   see  ante,   i.   194, 

hill  House.  «•  i- 

suppose 


204  To  the  Reverend  Samuel  Hardy.       [a.d.  1780. 


suppose,  men  who  transact  these  affairs,  but  we  do   not  know 
them  \     Be  so  kind  as  to  give  us  what  information  you  can. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 
Sept.  13, 1780.  Sam:  Johnson. 

To  William  Strahan,  Esq. 

707. 

(-.  To  THE  Reverend  Samuel  Hardy  ^. 

I  should  be  very  sorry  to  be  thought  capable  of  treating 
with  neglect  or  disrespect  such  a  Man  as  You,  or  such  an  attempt 
as  yours.  I  certainly  wrote  my  opinion  such  as  it  was,  long  ago. 
I  did  not  value  it  enough  to  keep  a  copy,  and  therefore  must 
now  tell  it  again,  when  the  remembrance  of  your  arguments  is 
weakened  by  time. 

You  will  be  pleased,  Sir,  to  recollect  that  I  professed  myself 
unskilful  in  Biblical  criticism  ;  my  profession  was  very  sincere, 
and  I  am  far  from  desiring  to  obtrude  my  notions  as  decisive. 

I  admitted  without  difficulty  your  prophesy  by  action,  all  types 
are  prophesies  of  that  kind.  But  I  know  not  whether  the 
admissions  of  such  prophesies  will  support  your  interpretation 
as  there  seems  to  be  no  action  done. 

'  Johnson  might  here  have  been  Eucharist.     In  it  he  maintains  fp.  4) 

properly  reminded  of  what  he  had  '  that  the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  John  is 

said    five   years    earlier,   that    '  the  to   be  priniarity  interpreted  of  the 

statutes    against    bribery    were    in-  Eucharist.'       The    miracle    of   the 

tended    to     prevent    upstarts    with  loaves  was,  he  goes  on  to  assert,  '  a 

money  from  getting  into  Parliament.'  Prophecy  by  Action  '  (p.  21).    He  in- 

Life,  ii.  339.  dicates  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 

-  From  the  original  in  the  posses-  ment  where  also  may  be  found  other 

sion    of  the  Rev.   John  W.  Hardy,  Prophecies   by   Actiojt    (pp.    15-19). 

Hildenborough,  Kent,   great-grand-  He  begins  his  Preface  by  saying  :— 

son  of  the  divine  to  whom  it  is  ad-  '  Afflicted  as  I  have  been  in  body  by 

dressed.  the  excruciating  tortures  of  the  gout ; 

The  Rev.    Samuel    Hardy,    D.D.,  distressed  as  I  have  been  in  mind  by 

afterwards  Rector  of  Little  Blaken-  the  barbarous  murder  of  my  son.' 

ham,  Suffolk,  and  at  this  time  After-  In  Nichols's   Lit.   Hist.,    iv.    709, 

noon  Lecturer  at  the  Parish  Church  there  is  a  slight  notice  of  Dr.  Hardy 

of  Enfield,  Middlesex,  published  in  and  of  his  son,  the  Rector  of  Lough- 

1784     The    Scripture  -  Account    of  borough. 
the  Nature  and  ends  of  the  Holy 


Whether 


Aetat.  71.]  To    "J ok?t    Nickols.  2O5 

Whether  your  explication  or  that  which  is  generally  received 
be  considered  as  true,  the  use  and  importance  of  the  Sacrament 
is  the  same,  and  therefore  I  cannot  think  the  question  such  as 
in  the  present  disposition  of  the  world  can  properly  or  usefully 
be  moved.  Why  should  you  run  the  hazard  of  being  wrong, 
when  Religion  gains  nothing  by  your  being  right  ? 

Your  arguments  from  the  Old  Testament  do  not  appear  to 
me  to  have  any  force,  or  to  be  applied  with  any  probability  to 
your  present  purpose.  You  will  gain  more  upon  the  reader  by 
omitting  them,  and  trusting  only  to  the  passage  in  itself  and  to 
general  reasoning.  And  if  you  publish  your  thoughts  I  think  it 
best  to  give  them  the  appearance  rather  of  enquiry  and  con- 
jecture than  of  assertion  and  dogmatism. 

Once  more.  Sir,  I  do  not  pretend  to  decide  the  question  which 

was  new  to  me,  and  of  which  I  have  not  perhaps  the  previous 

knowledge  necessary  to  the  examination.     Enquire  of  men  more 

learned  in  the  Scriptures.     You  have  from  me  the  respect  due 

to  all  diligent  searchers  after  sacred  Truth,  and  my  wishes  that 

you   may  be  long  able  to  continue  your  studies,  to  your  own 

improvement,  and  instruction  of  others. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  Servant, 

Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  SaM:   JOHNSON. 

Sept.  23,  1780. 

708. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  October  17,  1780.     Published  in  the  Life^  iii.  441. 

709. 

o  To  John  Nichols'. 

oIR, 

I  think  you  never  need  send  back  the  revises  unless  some- 

'  First   published    in  the    Gentle-  me  to  go  with  him  ;  and  how  long  I 

maji's  Magazine  iox  \^'&'^^^^^i.g<&  \\.  shall  stay,  I   cannot  tell.     I  do  not 

Nine  days  earlier  Johnson,  after  much  like  the  place,  but  yet  I  shall 

telling  Boswell  of  Thrale's  loss  of  the  go,  and  stay  while  my  stay  is  desired.' 

election,   continued  : — '  He    is    now  Life,  iii.  442. 
going  to  Brighthelmston,  and  expects 

thing 


2o6  To  Mrs.  \j\Iiss\  Prowse.  [a.d.  1780. 

thing  important  occurs.     Little  things,  if  I  omit  them,  you  will 

do  me  the  favour  of  setting  right  yourself    Our  post  is  awkward 

as  you  will  find,  and  I  fancy  you  will  find  it  best  to  send  two 

sheets  at  once. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Brighthelmstone,  SaM:   JOHNSON. 

Oct.  26,  1780. 
To  Mr.  Nicol. 

710. 

-_  To  Mrs.  [Miss]  Prowse\ 

Madam,  •-       -■ 

I  return  you  very  sincere  and  respectful  thanks  for  all  your 

favours.     You  have,  I  see,  sent  guineas  when  I  expected  only 

pounds.     It  was  beside  my  intention  that  you  should  make  so 

much  enquiry  after  Johnson.     What  can  be  known  of  him  must 

start  up  by  accident.     He  was  not  a  Native  of  your  town  or 

country,  but  an  adventurer  who  came  from  a  distant  part  in 

quest  of  a  livelihood,  and  did  not  stay  a  year.     He  came  in  36, 

and  went  away  in  37.     He  was  likely  enough  to  attract  notice 

while  he  staid,  as  a  lively  noisy  man,  that  loved  company.     His 

memory  might  probably  continue  for  some  time  in  some  favourite 

alehouse.     But  after  so  many  years  perhaps  there  is  no  man 

left  that  remembers  him.     He  was  my  near  relation. 

The  unfortunate  woman  for  whom  your  excellent  Mother  has 
so  kindly  made  provision  is,  in  her  way,  well.  I  am  now  sending 
her  some  cloaths  \sic\.     Of  her  cure  there  is  no  hope. 

Be  pleased,  Madam,  to  accept  the  good  wishes  and  grateful 

regard  of, 

Madam, 

Your  most  obedient, 

and  most  humble  Servant, 

Dec. 9, 1780.  Sam:  Johnson. 

[Leaf  torn  off,  no  address.] 

'  First    published    in    Notes   and  sum  of  money   which   was   sent  to 

<2«trr?Vj',  4th  S.  V.  441.    Copied  by  me  Johnson,  and  for  an  account  of  his 

from  the  original  in  the  possession  of  '  near  relation,'  and  the  'unfortunate 

the  Rev.  Edward  B.  Edgell.     For  the  woman,'  see  ante,  ii.  194. 

To 


Aetat.  71.]  To   William  Strahan.  207 


711. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Vyse  '. 
Sir,  Dec.  30,  1780. 

I   hope  you  will   forgive  the  liberty  I    take,  in  soliciting 

your  interposition  with  his  grace  the  archbishop  :  my  first  petition 

was  successful,  and  I  therefore  venture  on  a  second. 

The  matron  of  the  Chartreux  is  about  to  resign  her  place  ; 

and  Mrs.  Desmoulins,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Swinfen,  who 

was  well  known  to  your  father  ^,  is  desirous  of  succeeding  her. 

She  has  been  accustomed  by  keeping  a  boarding-school  to  the 

care  of  children,  and  I  think  is  very  likely  to  discharge  her  duty. 

She  is  in  great  distress,  and  therefore  may  probably  receive  the 

benefit  of  a  charitable  foundation.     If  you  wish  to  see  her,  she 

will  be  willing  to  give  an  account  of  herself. 

If  you  shall  be  pleased,  Sir,  to  mention  her  favourably  to  his 

grace,  you  will  do  a  great  act  of  kindness,  to, 

Sir, 

Yours,  &c., 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Vyse  at  Lambeth.  SaM  :   JOHNSON. 

712. 

To  Warren  Hastings. 

[London],  January  29,  1781.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  70. 
The  date  is  wrongly  given  by  Bosvvell  as  January  9.     The  original 
is  in  the  British  Museum. 

713. 

o  To  William  Strahan  ^. 

Sir, 

Having  now  done  my  lives  I  shall  have  money  to  receive, 
and  shall  be  glad  to  add  to  it  what  remains  due  for  the  Hebrides, 
which  you  cannot  charge  [me]  with  grasping  very  rapaciously  *. 

'  First  published  in  Malone's  Bos-  ^  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 

well.     For  Dr.  Vyse  and  Johnson's  sion  of  Mr.  Frederick  Barker,  of  41 

'  first  petition '  about  the  Chartreux  Gunterstone  Road,  West  Kensington, 

or  Charter  House,  see  ante,  ii.  14.  "  The  Journey  to  the  Hebrides  was 

""  Dr.  Vyse's  father  was  a  Lichfield  published  at  the  beginning  of  1775. 

Clergyman,  and  Dr.  Swinfen,  John-  Four  thousand  copies  were  printed, 

son's  godfather,  was  a  physician  of  A  second  edition  was  not  called  for 

the  same  city.  till  1785.    Life,  ii.  310. 

The 


2o8  To  Tho7nas  Cadell.  [a.d.  1781. 

The  price  was   two  hundred  guineas  or  pounds  ;    I   think   first 
pounds  then  guineas '.     I  have  had  one  hundred. 

There  is  hkewise  something  due  for  the  pohtical  pamphlets  ^, 
which  I  left  without  bargain  to  your  liberality  and  Mr.  Cadel's. 
Of  this  you  will  likewise  think  that  I  may  have  all  together. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  humble  Servant, 
March  5,  1781.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

To  William  Strahan,  Esq. 

714. 

To  Thomas  Cadell. 

[London]  March  5,  178 1. 

In  Messrs  Puttick  and  Simpson's  Auction  Catalogue  for  December 
19,  1850,  Lot  300  is  an  autograph  Letter  of  Johnson  to  Mr.  Cadell, 
dated  March  5,  1781  : — 'Desiring  payment  to  be  made  for  some  sets  of 
the  Poets  and  Lives  sent  on  his  account  to  Mr.  Boswell.  He  refers  to 
his  last  work,  the  Lives  of  the  Poets,  in  the  conclusion  of  the  letter.  "  I 
am  glad  that  the  work  is  at  last  done." ' 

Johnson  '  sent  a  set  both  of  the  Lives  and  the  Poets  to  dear  Mrs. 
Boswell  in  acknowledgment  of  her  marmalade.'     Life,  iii.  372. 

This  Letter  was  sold  by  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Co.  on  May  10,  1875, 
for  ^3  17^.  dd.  (Lot  97). 

715. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  March  14,  1781.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  71. 

718. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[London,  April  4,  1781.]     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  84. 

'  Dilly,    the    bookseller,    said  : —  fifteen  hundred  guineas,  the  book- 

'  As  to  the  terms  it  was  left  entirely  sellers,  who  knew  the  value  of  his 

to  the  Doctor  to  name  his  own ;  he  name,  would  doubtless  have  readily 

mentioned  two  hundred  guineas;  it  given  it.'    /^.  iii.  in,  ;?.  1.    See  aftte, 

was  immediately  agreed   to.'     L/fe,  i.  79,  «.  i. 

iii.    III.       'The    booksellers    spon-  -  His  four  political  pamphlets  were 

taneously   added  a  third   hundred.'  collected  into  a  volume  in  1776,  with 

Id.  iv.  35,  n.  3.     Malone  says  that  the  title  Political  Tracts.     Life,  ii. 

'  had  he  asked  one  thousand,  or  even  315. 

To 


Aetat.  71.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


209 


717. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dearest  Madam,  London,  April  5, 1781. 

Of  your  injunctions,  to  pray  for  you  and  write  to  you,  I 
hope  to  leave  neither  unobserved  ;  and  I  hope  to  find  you 
wilh'ng  in  a  short  time  to  alleviate  your  trouble  by  some  other 
exercise  of  the  mind.  I  am  not  without  my  part  of  the  calamity. 
No  death  since  that  of  my  wife  has  ever  oppressed  me  like  this  ^. 
But  let  us  remember,  that  we  are  in  the  hands  of  Him  who  knows 
when  to  give  and  when  to  take  away;  who  will  look  upon  us 
with  mercy  through  all  our  variations  of  existence,  and  who  in- 
vites us  to  call  on  him  in  the  day  of  trouble.  Call  upon  him  in 
this  great  revolution  of  life,  and  call  with  confidence.     You  will 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  191. 

Boswell  who  had  come  up  to 
London  on  March  19  'had  found 
Mr.  Thrale  very  ill.  He  had  removed 
to  a  house  in  Grosvenor  Square.  I 
was  sorry,'  he  adds,  *  to  see  him 
sadly  changed  in  his  appearance.' 
Life,  iv.  72.  Nevertheless  the  usual 
hospitality  went  on.  Miss  Burney 
describes '  a  very  gay  party  to  dinner ' 
less  than  a  week  before  his  death. 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  14.  A 
note  which  she  had  from  Mrs. 
Thrale  '  is  endorsed  : — "  Written  a 
few  hours  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Thrale,  which  happened  by  a  sudden 
stroke  of  apoplexy  on  the  morning  of 
a  day  on  which  half  the  fashion  of 
London  had  been  invited  to  an 
assembly  at  his  house."'  lb.  p.  15. 
Johnson  recorded  in  his  Diary : — '  At 
night  I  was  called  to  him,  and  found 
him  senseless  in  strong  convulsions. 
I  staid  in  the  room  except  that  I 
visited  Mrs.  Thrale  twice.'  Johnson 
said:  —  'His  servants  would  have 
waited  upon  him  in  this  awful  period, 
and  why  not  his  friend .'' '  Life,  iv. 
84,  71.  4. 

As  Mrs.  Thrale  had  fled  to  Bath 

VOL.  n.  p 


after  her  son's  death  {Life,  ill.  6,  «.  i) 
so  she  hurried  away  from  her  dead 
husband.  '  Pepys,'  she  writes,  '  came 
at  ten  [on  the  night  Mr.  Thrale  was 
attacked],  and  never  left  the  house 
till  early  light  showed  me  the  way  to 
Streatham  ;  and  from  thence,  hoping 
still  less  disturbance,  to  Brighthelm- 
stone,  where  we  had  a  house  of  our 
own,  and  whither  you  will  see  the 
letters  all  addressed.'  Hayward's 
Piozzi,  \.  304.  Thrale  died  about 
five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Life,  iv. 
84,  71.  4. 

^  Yet  he  had  lost  '  his  beloved 
friend  Dr.  Bathurst,  of  whom  he 
hardly  ever  spoke  without  tears  in 
his  eyes'  {Life,  i.  190),  and  his 
mother,  '  whose  death  was  one  of  the 
few  calamities,'  he  said,  '  on  which 
he  thought  with  terror'  {aTite,  i. 
20)  ;  not  to  mention  Goldsmith  and 
Beauclerk.  See  a7tte,  ii.  100,  where 
he  writes  to  Mrs.  Thrale :—' There 
is  nobody  left  for  me  to  care  about 
but  you  and  my  master,  and  I  have 
now  for  many  years  known  the  value 
of  his  friendship,  and  the  importance 
of  his  life,  too  well  not  to  have  him 
very  near  my  heart.' 

then 


2IO 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1781. 


then  find  comfort  for  the  past,  and  support  for  the  future.  He 
that  has  given  you  happiness  in  marriage,  to  a  degree  of  which, 
without  personal  knowledge,  I  should  have  thought  the  descrip- 
tion fabulous,  can  give  you  another  mode  of  happiness  as  a 
mother ' ;  and  at  last,  the  happiness  of  losing  all  temporal  cares 
in  the  thoughts  of  an  eternity  in  heaven. 

I  do  not  exhort  you  to  reason  yourself  into  tranquillity.  We 
must  first  pray,  and  then  labour ;  first  implore  the  blessing  of 
God,  and  [then  employ]  those  means  which  he  puts  into  our 
hands.  Cultivated  ground  has  few  weeds ;  a  mind  occupied  by 
lawful  business,  has  little  room  for  useless  regret  ^. 

We  read  the  will  to-day^;  but  I  will  not  fill  my  first  letter 
with  any  other  account  than  that,  with  all  my  zeal  for  your  ad- 
vantage, I  am  satisfied  ;    and  that  the  other  executors  "*,  more 


'  Five  months  later  she  recorded 
or  pretended  to  record  in  her 
Journal:  —  'September,  1781. —  My 
five  fair  daughters  too  !  I  have  so 
good  a  pretence  to  wish  for  long  life 
to  see  them  settled.  Like  the  old 
fellow  in  "  Lucian  "  one  is  never  at  a 
loss  for  an  excuse.  They  are  five 
lovely  creatures  to  be  sure,  but  they 
love  not  me.  Is  it  my  fault  or  theirs  ? ' 
Hayward's  Piozzi,  ii.  342.  Two 
years  after  her  husband's  death  she 
wrote  : — '  Mr.  Thrale  had  not  much 
heart,  but  his  fair  daughters  have 
none  at  all.'  lb.  p.  344.  Of  these 
five  daughters  the  eldest  was  at  the 
time  of  their  father's  death  sixteen, 
and  the  youngest  two.  This  last  died 
two  years  later — not  five  years  old 
and  without  a  heart.  Post,  Letter  of 
May  I,  1783. 

'^  Gibbon  wrote  to  Lord  Sheffield 
on  hearing  of  the  death  of  Lady 
Sheffield  : — '  I  will  not  expatiate  on 
those  common-place  topics  which 
have  never  dried  a  single  tear ;  but 
let  me  advise,  let  me  urg'e  you  to  force 
yourself  into  business,  as  I  would 
try  to  force  myself  into  study.  The 
mind  must  not  be  idle  ;  if  it  be  not 


exercised  on  external  objects  it  will 
prey  on  its  own  vitals.'  Gibbon's 
Misc.  Works,  i.  400. 

^  In  a  long  note  on  this  passage 
Mrs.  Thrale  writes  : — '  It  was  neither 
kind  or  civil,  you  will  say,  to  open 

the  will   in    my  absence My 

husband  left  me  the  interest  of 
^50,000  for  my  life,  doubtless  in 
return  for  my  diligence  during  our 
distresses  in  1772^  because  it  is 
specified  to  be  given  over  and  above 
what  was  provided  in  our  marriage 
settlement.  He  left  me  also  the  plate, 
pictures  and  linen  of  both  houses, 
forgetting  even  to  name  Brighthelm- 
stone,  so  all  I  had  bought  for  that 
place  fell  to  the  ladies  [her  daughters] 
who  said  loudly  what  a  wretched 
match  their  poo7-  papa  had  made.' 
Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  293. 

■*  Miss  Burney,  who  had  been 
staying  with  Mrs.  Thrale,  wrote  on 
April  29  : — '  The  four  executors,  Mr. 
Gator,  Mr.  Crutchley,  Mr.  Henry 
Smith  and  Dr.  Johnson  have  all  be- 
haved generously  and  honourably. 
She  is  to  carry  on  the  business  jointly 
with  them.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
ii.  20. 

used 


Aetat.  71.]  To  Mrs.  Tkrak.  211 


used  to  consider  property  than  I,  commended  it  for  wisdom  and 
equity.  Yet  why  should  I  not  tell  you  that  you  have  five 
hundred  pounds  for  your  immediate  expenses,  and  two  thousand 
pounds  a-year,  with  both  the  houses  and  all  the  goods  ? 

Let  us  pray  for  one  another,  that  the  time,  whether  long  or 
short,  that  shall  yet  be  granted  us,  may  be  well  spent ;  and  that 
when  this  life,  which  at  the  longest  is  very  short,  shall  come  to 
an  end,  a  better  may  begin  which  shall  never  end. 

I  am,  dearest  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

718. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 
Dear  Madam,  April  7, 1781. 

I  hope  you  begin  to  find  your  mind  grow  clearer.  My  part 
of  the  loss  hangs  upon  me.  I  have  lost  a  friend  of  boundless 
kindness  at  an  age  when  it  is  very  unlikely  that  I  should  find 
another "". 

If  you  think  change  of  place  likely  to  relieve  you,  there  is  no 
reason  why  you  should  not  go  to  Bath  ^ ;  the  distances  are  un- 
equal, but  with  regard  to  practice  and  business  they  are  the  same. 
It  is  a  day's  journey  from  either  place ;  and  the  post  is  more 
expeditious  and  certain  to  Bath  *.  Consult  only  your  own  in- 
clination, for  there  is  really  no  other  principle  of  choice.  God 
direct  and  bless  you. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  193.  to  waste  your  health  in  unprofitable 

""  On  his  next  birthday  he  wrote  : —  sorrow,    but    go    to    Bath,    and    en- 

'  My  first  knowledge  of  Thrale  was  deavour  to  prolong  your   own   life.' 

in    1765.     I  enjoyed  his  favour  for  Life,  iv.  100. 

almost  a  fourth  part  of  my  life.'    Pr.  *  The  other  place  was    Brighton, 

and  Med.,   p.    191.       Miss   Burney  to  which,  at  this  season  of  the  year, 

records  how  he  had  often  with  her  the  post  went  only  four  days  a  week, 

'  long    and    melancholy    discourses  whereas  to  Bath  it  went  every  night 

about    our   dear    deceased     master,  but  Sunday.    See  post,  p.  216,  where 

whom  indeed  he  regrets  incessantly.'  it  is  stated  that  a  letter  written  by 

Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  63.  Mrs.  Thrale  at  Brighton  on  Wednes- 

^  Two   or    three   weeks    later   he  day   was   received   by    Johnson   on 

wrote  to  Mrs.  Strahan  who  had  lost  Saturday. 
her  son  : — '  Let  me  counsel  you  not 

P  1  Mr.  C 


212 


To  M7's.  Tlwale. 


[A.D.  1781. 


Mr.  C has   offered   Mr.  P '  money,   but   it  was   not 

wanted.  I  hope  we  shall  all  do  all  we  can  to  make  you  less 
unhappy,  and  you  must  do  all  you  can  for  yourself.  What  we, 
or  what  you  can  do,  will  for  a  time  be  but  little ;  yet  certainly 
that  calamity  which  may  be  considered  as  doomed  to  fall  in- 
evitably on  half  mankind,  is  not  finally  without  alleviation  ^. 

It  is  something  for  me,  that  as  I  have  not  the  decrepitude  I  have 
not  the  callousness  of  old  age  ^.     I  hope  in  time  to  be  less  afflicted. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

719. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'*. 
Dearest  Madam,  London,  April  9, 1781. 

That  you  are  gradually  recovering  your  tranquillity,  is  the 
effect  to  be  humbly  expected  from  trust  in  God.  Do  not  repre- 
sent life  as  darker  than  it  is.  Your  loss  has  been  very  great,  but 
you  retain  more  than  almost  any  other  can  hope  to  possess.  You 
are  high  in  the  opinion  of  mankind  ;  you  have  children  from 
whom  much  pleasure  may  be  expected  ;  and  that  you  will  find 
many  friends,  you  have  no  reason  to  doubt.  Of  my  friendship, 
be  it  worth  more  or  less,  I  hope  you  think  yourself  certain,  with- 
out much  art  or  care.  It  will  not  be  easy  for  me  to  repay  the 
benefits  that  I  have  received  ;  but  I  hope  to  be  always  ready  at 
your  call.  Our  sorrow  has  different  effects  ;  you  are  withdrawn 
into  solitude,  and  I  am  driven  into  company  ^     I  am  afraid  of 


'  '  Cator  and  Perkins.'— Baretti. 
Cator  was  one  of  the  executors  ;  he 
offered  no  doubt  to  advance  money 
to  Perkins,  the  Superintendent  of  the 
Brewery,  if  any  were  needed. 

""  I  think  that  Johnson  says  here 
what  he  said  to  Mr.  Elphinston  on 
the  death  of  his  wife  {ante,  ii.  67)  : — 
'  In  the  condition  of  mortal  beings 
one  must  lose  another.  What  would 
be  the  wretchedness  of  life,  if  there 
was  not  something  always  in  view, 
some  Being,  immutable  and  unfailing, 
to  whose  mercy  man  may  have  re- 
course !  ' 

^  For   Johnson's    not    having   the 


decrepitude  of  old  age,  see  ante, 
ii.  202,  n.  2,  and  Life,  iii.  302,  336. 
For  the  callousness,  sq&  Ra7nl)ler,  No. 
78,  where  he  writes  : — '  I  believe  men 
may  be  generally  observed  to  grow 
less  tender  as  they  advance  in  age.' 
Chesterfield  says  :— '  The  heart  never 
grows  better  by  age  ;  I  fear  rather 
worse  ;  always  harder.'  Letters  to 
his  Son,  iii.  18. 

*  Piozzi  Lette7-s,  ii.  195. 

^  Two  days  after  Thrale's  death 
Johnson  carried  Boswell  to  his  City 
Club  in  St.  Paul's  Church-yard,  com- 
posed of  men  who  were  not  patriots. 
Life,  iv.  87. 

thinking 


Aetat.  71.]  To  Mvs.  Thvale.  1 1 3 

thinking  what  I  have  lost.    I  never  had  such  a  friend  before.    Let 
me  have  your  prayers  and  those  of  my  dear  Queeney. 

The  prudence  and  resolution  of  your  design  to  return  so  soon 
to  your  business  and  your  duty  deserves  great  praise  ;  I  shall 
communicate  it  on  Wednesday  to  the  other  executors.  Be 
pleased  to  let  me  know  whether  you  would  have  me  come  to 
Streatham  to  receive  you,  or  stay  here  till  the  next  day. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

720. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Vyse  ^ 
Rev.  Sir,  Bolt  Court,  April  lo,  1781. 

The  bearer  is  one  of  my  old  friends,  a  man  of  great  learning, 
whom  the  chancellor  has  been  pleased  to  nominate  to  the  Char- 
treux.  He  attends  his  grace  the  archbishop,  to  take  the  oath 
required ;  and  being  a  modest  scholar,  will  escape  embarrassment, 
if  you  are  so  kind  as  to  introduce  him,  by  which  you  will  do  a 
kindness  to  a  man  of  great  merit,  and  add  another  to  those  favours 
which  have  already  been  conferred  by  you  on, 

Sir,  &c., 
To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Vyse  at  Lambeth.  Sam  :   JOHNSON. 

721. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Dear   Madam,  London,  April  u,  i 781. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  from  my  dear  Miss  ^  that  you  have  re- 
covered tranquillity  enough  to  think  on  bathing;  but  there 
is  no  disposition   in   the  world   to  leave  you  long  to  yourself. 

Mr.  P pretends   that   your  absence   produces   a  thousand 

difficulties,  which  I  believe   it   does   not    produce.      He   frights 
Mr.  C  »  »  »  *  ■*.      Mr.  C is  of  my  mind,  that  there  is  no 

'  PubHshed    in  Croker's  Bosweil,  *  Pioszi  Letters,  \\.  196. 

page  654.  ^  '  Miss  Thrale,'  wrote  Miss  Bur- 

The  bearer  of  the  letter  was  John-  ney  on  April  29,  '  is  steady  and  con- 
son's  old  amanuensis,  Alexander  stant,  and  very  sincerely  grieved  for 
Macbean,  whom  '  by  the  favour  of  her  father.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
Lord  Thurlow  he  got  admitted  a  poor  ii.  20. 

brother  of  the  Charter-house.'     Life,  *  '  P is    Perkins   and    C 

i.  187;  iii.  441.    For  Macbean's  death  Cator.'     Baretti. 
see  post,  Letter  of  June  26,  1784- 

need 


214 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1781. 


need  of  hurry.  I  would  not  have  this  importunity  give  you 
any  alarm  or  disturbance  ;  but,  to  pacify  it,  come  as  soon  as 
you  can  prevail  upon  your  mind  to  mingle  with  business.  I 
think  business  the  best  remedy  for  grief  as  soon  as  it  can  be 
admitted. 

We  met  to-day,  and  were  told  of  mountainous  difficulties,  till 
I  was  provoked  to  tell  them,  that  if  there  were  really  so  much 
to  do  and  suffer,  there  would  be  no  executors  in  the  world  \ 
Do  not  suffer  yourself  to  be  terrified. 

I  comfort  you,  and  hope  God  will  bless  and  support  you ;  but 
I  feel  myself  like  a  man  beginning  a  new  course  of  life.  I  had 
interwoven  myself  with  my  dear  friend  ^  ;  but  our  great  care 
ought  to  be,  that  we  may  be  fit  and  ready,  when  in  a  short  time 
we  shall  be  called  to  follow  him. 

There  is,  however,  no  use  in  communicating  to  you  my  heavi- 
ness of  heart.     I  thank  dear  Miss  for  her  letter. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


722. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dearest  Madam,  London,  April  12, 1781. 

You  will  not  suppose  that  much  has  happened  since  last 
night,  nor  indeed  is  this  a  time  for  talking  much  of  loss  and 
gain.  The  business  of  Christians  is  now  for  a  few  days  in  their 
own  bosoms.  God  grant  us  to  do  it  properly.  I  hope  you  gain 
ground  on  your  affliction.  I  hope  to  overcome  mine.  You  and 
Miss  must  comfort  one  another.  May  you  long  live  happily 
together.  I  have  nobody  whom  I  expect  to  share  my  uneasiness, 
nor,  if  I  could  communicate  it,  would  it  be  less.  I  give  it  little 
vent,  and  amuse  it  as  I  can'*.     Let    us  pray  for  one  another. 


'  See  ante,  ii.  126,  and  Life,  iv. 
85,  n.  2,  for  the  interest  Johnson  had 
long  taken  in  Thrale's  business. 

"  On  September  2  of  this  year  he 
recorded: — 'When  Thrale's  health 
was  broken,  for  many  months,  I 
think,  before  his  death,  I  constantly 
mentioned  him  in  my  prayers  ;  and 


after  his  death  have  made  particular 
supplication  for  his  surviving  family 
to  this  day.'   Pr.  and  Med.  p.  198. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  198. 

*  It  was  on  this  day  that,  though 
it  was  the  day  before  Good  Friday, 
he  dined  abroad — for  the  second 
time  this  Passion  Week.    It  was  true 

And, 


Aetat.  71.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


215 


And,  when  we  meet,  we  may  try  what  fideHty  and  tenderness 
will  do  for  us. 

There  is  no  wisdom  in  useless  and  hopeless  sorrow ' ;  but 
there  is  something  in  it  so  like  virtue,  that  he  who  is  wholly 
without  it  cannot  be  loved,  nor  will  by  me  at  least  be  thought 
worthy  of  esteem  ^     My  next  letter  will  be  to  Queeney. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

723. 

To  Mrs.  Porter. 
Londoft,  April  12,  1781.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  89. 


724. 

^  ,^  To  Mrs.  Thrale^.  ,     ., 

Dear  Madam,  Apni  14, 1781. 

My  intention  was  to  have  written  this  day  to  my  dear 
Queeney;  but  I  have  just  heard  from  you,  and  therefore  this 
letter  shall  be  yours.  I  am  glad  that  you  find  the  behaviour  of 
your  acquaintance  such  as  you  can  commend.  The  world  is  not 
so  unjust  or  unkind  as  it  is  peevishly  represented.  Those  who 
deserve  well  seldom  fail  to  receive  from  others  such  services  as  they 
can  perform  ;  but  few  have  much  in  their  power,  or  are  so  stationed 
as  to  have  great  leisure  from  their  own  affairs,  and  kindness 
must  be  commonly  the  exuberance  of  content  ^.  The  wretched 
have  no  compassion,  they  can  do  good  only  from  strong  prin- 
ciples of  duty. 


he  dined  at  a  Bishop's  —  which 
supplied  him  with  that  '  ingenious 
defence '  which  Boswell  has  pre- 
served. Life,  iv.  88.  It  is  very  Hkely 
however  that  he  was,  as  he  said, 
'  driven  into  company '  by  his  friend's 
death.  For  amuse  see  ante,  i.  283, 
n.  5. 

'  '  Johnson  never  grieved  much  for 
anything.  His  trade  was  wisdom.' 
Baretti. 

-  '  Boswell.  "  But,  Sir,  we  do 
not  approve  of  a  man  who  very  soon 
forgets  the  loss  of  a  wife  or  a  friend." 
Johnson.    "  Sir,    we   disapprove   of 


him,  not  because  he  soon  forgets  his 
grief,  for  the  sooner  it  is  forgotten 
the  better ;  but  because  we  suppose, 
that  if  he  forgets  his  wife  or  his 
friend  soon,  he  has  not  had  much 
affection  for  them."  '   Life,  iii.  137. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  199. 

■•  '  Really  it  is  wonderful,'  said 
Johnson,  '  considering  how  much  at- 
tention is  necessary  for  men  to  take 
care  of  themselves,  and  ward  off  im- 
mediate evils  which  press  upon 
them,  it  is  wonderful  how  much  they 
do  for  others.'   Life,  iii.  236. 

I  purpose 


2l6 


To  Mrs.  Tkrale. 


[A.D.  1781. 


I  purpose  to  receive  you  at  Streatham,  but  wonder  that  you 
come  so  soon. 

I  sent  immediately  to  Mr.  Perkins  to  send  you  twenty  pounds, 
and  intended  to  secure  you  from  disappointment  by  inclosing  a 
note  in  this  ;  but  yours  written  on  Wednesday  nth,  came  not 
till  Saturday  the  14th,  and  mine  written  to-night,  will  not  come 
before  you  leave  Brighthelmston,  unless  you  have  put  Monday 
next  for  Monday  sevennight,  which  I  suspect,  as  you  mention  no 
alteration  of  your  mind. 


I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


725. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dear  Madam,  London,  April  16,  1781. 

As  I  was  preparing  this  day  to  go  to  Streatham,  according 
to  the  direction  of  your  letter  of  the  i  ith,  which  I  could  not  know, 
though  I  suspected  it,  to  be  erroneous,  I  received  two  letters, 
of  which  the  first  effect  was,  that  it  saved  me  a  fruitless  journey. 
Of  these  letters,  that  which  I  perceive  to  have  been  written  first 
has  no  date  of  time  or  place  ;  the  second  was  written  on  the 
14th,  but  they  came  together. 

I  forbore,  because  I  would  not  disturb  you,  to  tell  you,  that 

last  week  Mr.  came  to  talk  about  partnership,  and  was  very 

copious.     I  dismissed  him  with  nothing  harsher  than,  that  I  ivas 
not  convinced  ^ . 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  202. 

""  Mr.  Perkins,  no  doubt,  was  the 
copious  talker.  Mrs.  Piozzi  writes  : — 
'  On  Mr.  Thrale's  death  I  kept  the 
counting-house  from  nine  ever)'  morn- 
ing till  five  o'clock  every  evening  till 
June,  when  God  Almighty  sent  us 
a  knot  of  rich  Quakers  who  bought 
the  whole,  and  saved  me  and  my 
coadjutors  from  brewing  ourselves 
into  another  bankruptcy  ;  which 
hardly  could,  I  think,  have  been 
avoided,  being,  as  we  were,  five  in 
number,  Cator,  Crutchley,  Johnson, 
myself  and  Mr.  Smith,  all  with  equal 


power,  yet  all  incapable  of  using  it 
without  help  from  Mr.  Perkins,  who 
wished  to  force  himself  into  partner- 
ship, though  hating  the  whole  lot  of 
us,  save  only  »ie.  Upon  my  promise 
however  that  if  he  would  find  us  a 
purchaser,  I  would  present  his  wife 
with  my  dwelling  -  house  at  the 
Borough  and  all  its  furniture,  he 
soon  brought  forward  these  Quaker 
Barclays,  and  they  obtained  the 
Brewhouse  a  prodigious  bargain. 
Among  all  my  fellow-executors  none 
but  Johnson  opposed  selling  the 
business.     He  found   some  odd  de- 

You 


Aetat  71.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


21  7 


You  will  have  much  talk  to  hear.     Mr.  C '  speaks  with 

great  exuberance,  but  what  he  says,  when  at  last  he  says  't,  is 


commonly  right.     Mr. 


^  made  an  oration  flaming  with  the 


terrifick,  which  I  discovered  to  have  no  meaning  at  all ;  for  the 
result  was,  that  if  we  stopped  payment  we  should  lose  credit. 

I  have  written  to  Mr.  Robson  ^  to  send  the  will.  There  were 
two  copies,  but  I  know  not  who  has  them. 

You  are  to  receive  five  hundred  pounds  immediately  ■*.  Mr. 
Scrase  shall  certainly  see  the  will,  if  you  and  I  go  to  Bright- 
helmston  on  purpose,  which,  if  we  have  any  difficulty,  may  be 
our  best  expedient. 

I  am  encouraged,  dearest  lady,  by  your  spirit.  The  season 
for  agues  is  now  over  ^.     You  are  in  your  civil  character  a  man. 


light  in  signing  drafts  for  hundreds 
and  thousands,  to  him  a  new,  and, 
as  it  appeared,  delightful  occupation.' 
Hayvvard's  Pioszi,  i.  294. 

Miss  Burney  thus  writes  of  the  day 
of  the  sale  : — '  Mrs.  Thrale  went 
early  to  town,  to  meet  all  the  ex- 
ecutors, and  Mr.  Barclay,  the  Quaker, 
who  was  the  bidder.  She  was  in 
great  agitation  of  mind,  and  told  me 
if  all  went  well  she  would  wave  a 
white  handkerchief  out  of  the  coach- 
window.  Four  o'clock  came  and 
dinner  was  ready,  and  no  Mrs. 
Thrale.  Queeny  and  I  went  out 
upon  the  lawn,  where  we  sauntered  in 
eager  expectation,  till  near  six,  and 
then  the  coach  appeared  in  sight, 
and  a  white  handkerchief  was  waved 
from  it.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
ii.  34.  The  brewery  was  sold  for 
^135,000.  Lj/e,  iv.  132.  See  posi, 
p.  222. 

I  hoped  to  ascertain  from  Burke's 
Landed  Gentry  which  of  the  de- 
scendants of  the  author  of  the 
Apology  for  Quakers  purchased  the 
great  Brewery  ;  but  apparently  it  was 
thought  too  trifling  a  matter  in  the 
history  of  the  family  to  require  any 
record. 


■  'Cator.'  Baretti.  Miss  Burney 
gives  the  following  specimen  of  his 
talk  at  this  time.  '  One  speech  (she 
adds)  will  do  for  a  thousand  : — "  As 
to  this  here  question  of  Lord  Lyttel- 
ton  I  can't  speak  to  it  to  the  purpose, 
as  I  have  not  read  his  Life;  for  I 
have  only  read  the  Life  of  Pope ; 
I  have  got  the  books  though,  for 
I  sent  for  them  last  week,  and  they 
came  to  me  on  Wednesday,  and  then 
I  began  them  ;  but  I  have  not  yet 
read  Lord  Lyttelto7i.  Pope  I  have 
begun,  and  that  is  what  I  am  now 
reading.  But  what  I  have  to  say 
about  Lord  Lyttelton  is  this  here  ; 
Mr.  Seward  says  that  Lord  Lyttel- 
ton's  steward  dunned  Mr.  Shenstone 
for  his  rent,  by  which  I  understand 
he  was  a  tenant  of  Lord  Lyttelton's. 
Well,  if  he  was  a  tenant  of  Lord 
Lyttelton's,  why  should  not  he  pay 
his  rent?"  Who  could  contradict 
this  1 '  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  48. 

'  'Perkins.'   Baretti. 

3  See  next  letter. 

"  In  accordance  with  the  direction 
in  the  will.     An/e,  ii.  211. 

5  '  This   ague   fit  of  fear  is  over- 
blown.' 
Richard  //,  Act  iii.  sc.  2,  1.  190. 

You 


2i8  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1781. 

You  may  sue  and  be  sued  ^  If  you  apply  to  business  perhaps 
half  the  mind  which  you  have  exercised  upon  knowledge  and 
elegance,  you  will  need  little  help,  what  help  however  I  can  give 
you,  will,  I  hope,  be  always  at  call. 

(Make  my  compliments  to  Mr.  Scrase.) 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

726. 

To  John  Nichols  ^ 

Mr.  Johnson  desires  Mr.  Nicol  to  send  him  a  set  of  the  last 
lives,  and  would  be  glad  to  know  how  the  octavo  edition  goes 
forward. 

Monday,  April  i6,  1781. 
To  Mr.  Nicol. 

727. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Dear  Madam,  April  17, 1781. 

Mr.  Norris  (Mr.  Robson's  partner)'^  promised  to  send  the 
will  to-morrow ;  you  will  therefore  have  it  before  you  have  this 
letter.  When  you  have  talked  with  Mr.  Scrase,  write  diligently 
down  all  that  you  can  remember,  and,  where  you  have  any  diffi- 
culties, ask  him  again,  and  rather  stay  where  you  are  a  few  days 
longer  than  come  away  with  imperfect  information. 

'  '  If  the  wife  be  injured  in   her  wise,  in  all  respects  as  if  she  were  a 

person  or  her  property  she  can  bring  feme  sole.' 

no  action   for  redress   without   her  ^  First   pubhshed   in   the   Gentle- 

husband's   concurrence,    and  in  his  mati^ s  Magazine  iox  \']%z^,  ^dig&  \\. 

name  as  well  as  her  own  ;    neither  The  Lives  were    published  sepa- 

can  she  be  sued,  without  making  the  rately   as   well    as   in   the   collected 

husband  a  defendant.'    Blackstone's  edition  of  the  Poets.     In  1779  four 

Commentaries,  ed.  1775,  i.  443.     By  volumes  duodecimo  were  published, 

the    death    of  her  husband  she  re-  and  in  1781  the  remaining  six.     In 

gained  the  rights  of  a  single  woman.  the  same  year  an  octavo  edition  in 

By  the  Married  Women's  Property  four  volumes  was  brought  out. 

Act,  1882  (45  and  46  Vict.  c.  75),  'a  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  200. 

married  woman  shall  be  capable  of  This  letter  is  misplaced  by  Mrs. 

entering  into  and  rendering  herself  Piozzi,  as  it    should    have   followed, 

hable  in  respect  of  and  to  the  extent  not  preceded,  that  of  April  16. 

of  her  separate  property  on  any  con-  ''  No  doubt  they  were  Mr.  Thrale's 

tract,  and  of  suing  and  being  sued,  solicitors, 
either  in  contract  or  in  tort,  or  othcr- 

The 


Aetat.  71.]  To  Mrs.  \^Miss\  Prowse.  2 1 9 

The  executors  will  hardly  meet  till  you  come,  for  we  have 
nothing  to  do  till  we  go  all  together  to  prove  the  will. 

I  have  not  had  a  second  visit  from  Mr. ,  for  he  found 

his  discourse  to  me  very  unavailing.     I  was  dry;  but  if  he  goes 

to he  will  be  overpowered   with  words  as  good   as   his 

own.     appears  a  very  modest  inoffensive  man,  not  likely 

to  give  any  trouble  ^  The  difficulty  of  finding  executors 
Mr.  Scrase  has  formerly  told  you,  and  among  all  your  ac- 
quaintance, except  P ,  whom  you  pressed  into  the  service, 

and  who  would  perhaps  have  deserted  it  '^,  I  do  not  see  with 
whom  you  could  have  been  more  commodiously  connected. 
They  all  mean  well,  and  will,  I  think,  all  concur. 

Miss  told   me  that  you  intended  to   bathe  ;    it  is  right :   all 

external  things  are  diversions :  let  her  bathe  too.     I  regain  that 

tranquillity  which  irremediable  misfortunes   necessarily  admit, 

and  do  not,  I  hope,  think  on  what  I  have  lost,  without  grateful 

recollection  of  what  I  have  enjoyed. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

728. 
To  Mrs.  Strahan. 
[London],  April  23,  1781.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  100. 

729. 

Madam,  ^^  ^^s-  t^^^^]  ProwseI 

Having  lately  had  a  melancholy  occasion  to   search   my 

'  The  first  of  these  three  men  is,  ^  See  ante,  ii.  126,  for  Johnson's 
I  conjecture,  Perkins,  the  second  letter  about  trustees.  Perkins  was 
Crutchley,  and  the  third  Henry  not  an  executor,  so  that  Johnson 
Smith  (ante,  ii.  210,  n.  4).  Mrs.  means,  I  think,  that  Mrs.  Thrale  had 
Piozzi  says  :— '  Crutchley  hated  Per-  tried  to  have  him  made  one. 
kins,  and  lived  upon  the  verge  of  ^  First  published  in  N'otes  and 
a  quarrel  with  him  every  day  while  Queries,  4th  S.  v.  441.  Copied  by 
they  acted  together.  Smith  cursed  me  from  the  original  in  the  pos- 
the  whole  business,  and  wondered  session  of  the  Rev.  Edward  B. 
what  his  relation,  Mr.  Thrale,  could  Edgell,  of  Bromham  Rectory,  Chip- 
mean  by  leaving  him  ^200,  he  said,  penham. 

and  such  a  burden  on  his  back  to  For  the  subject  of  the  Letter  see 

bear  for  it.'    Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  295.  ante,  ii.  193. 

chests 


2  20  To  John  Nichols.  [a.d.  1781. 


chests  for  mourning,  I  found  in  one  of  the  pockets  this  tattered 
letter,  which  seems  to  prove  that  you  have  remitted  to  me  more 
money  than  was  due  '  ? 

You  see,  Madam,  that  I  was  paid,  or  might  have  been  paid  by 
your  good  Mother  to  -76.  It  is  not  Hkely  that  I  neglected  to 
call  on  the  Banker,  yet  it  is  possible,  but  the  Banker's  books  will 
clear  the  question.  I  am  willing  to  suppose  that  I  received  it, 
for  it  would  be  hard  that  Charity  should  be  cheated  ^ 

In  a  few  weeks  will  be  published  with  my  name  some  Lives 

of  the  Poets  ^  of  which  if  you  will  be  pleased  to  favour  me  by 

accepting  a  copy,  I  beg  that  you  will  let  me  know  to  whom  in 

London  I  may  send  them,  that  they  may  be  conveyed  to  you. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  Servant, 

N.B.  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  London.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

May  7,  1781. 

730. 

To  Mr.  Perkins. 
[London],  June  2,  1781.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  118. 

731. 

(,  To  John  Nichols*. 

My  desire  being  to  complete  the  sets  of  lives  which  I  have 
formerly  presented  to  my  friends,  I  have  occasion  for  few  of  the 

'  The  letter,  as  is  shown  in  the  received.'  She  had  sent  him  back- 
next  paragraph,  was  written  in  1776.  payments  for  six  years  from  1780. 
In  the  spring  of  that  year  he  wore,  Ante,  ii.  193,  n.  4.  She  should,  it 
no  doubt,  the  mourning  for  the  seems,  have  omitted  two  years'  pay- 
funeral  of  young  Harry  Thrale,  as  ments,  unless  no  payment  had  been 
he  now  wore  it  for  the   funeral    of  made  for  1775. 

Harry's   father.      He  had   attended  ^  The     octavo     edition     in     four 

also  Garrick's  funeral  in  1779.    Life,  volumes,  published  this  year, 

iv.  208.  ''  First   published    in    the    Gentle- 

^  On  the  blank  sheet  of  the  paper  man's  Magazine  for  1785,  page  ll. 

is  written: — 'On    searching  Child's  Johnson    had    presented   the    first 

accounts  I   found   the  year  76   had  four  volumes    published  in   1779   to 

been  paid.     I  therefore  omitted  the  his  friends.     With  the  issue  of  the 

present  year's  payment,  and  acknow-  last  six  in  1781  he  had  received  fresh 

ledged  the  Books  which  I  soon  after  sets  of  the  first  four,  of  most  of  which 

first 


Aetat.  71.] 


To  Miss  Reynolds. 


221 


first  volumes,  of  which  by  some  misapprehension  I  have  received 

a  great  number,  which  I  desire  to  exchange  for  the  latter  volumes. 

I  wish  success  to  the  new  edition. 

Please  to  present  to  Mr.  Steevens  a  complete  set  of  the  Lives 

in  i2mo '. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  Servant, 

June  lo,  1781,  Sam  :  JOHNSON. 

To  Mr.  Nicol. 

732. 

To  Bennet  Langton. 

Bolt  Court,  June  16,  1781.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  132. 

733. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[London],  June  23,  1781.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  133. 


734. 

To  Miss  Reynolds'. 
Dear  Madam,  25th  June,  i  781. 

You  may  give  the  book  to  Mrs.  Horneck  ^  and  I  will  give 

you  another  for  yourself. 

I  am  afraid  there  is  no  hope  of  Mrs.  Thrale's  custom  for  your 

pictures  ;  but,  if  you  please,  I  will  mention  it.    She  cannot  make 

a  pension  out  of  her  jointure'*. 

I  will  bring  the  papers  myself. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


he  had  no  need.  What  he  wanted 
was  enough  of  the  last  six  volumes 
to  complete  the  sets  of  those  friends 
to  whom  he  had  given  the  first  four. 
'  The  new  edition '  was  the  one  in 
octavo. 

'  Steevens  had  supplied  him  with 
some  anecdotes  and  quotations. 
Life,  iv.  37. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 


well,  page  697. 

^  Atite,  i.  344,  n.  2. 

*  '  Miss  Reynolds,  it  seems,  wished 
to  dispose  of  her  collection,  and 
thought  that  Mrs.  Thrale  might  pur- 
chase and  pay  for  it  by  an  annuity.' 
Croker.  She  had  bought  a  i^\'{ 
very  fine  pictures  in  Paris  at  a  very 
small  price.  Northcote's  Life  of 
Reynolds,  i.  202. 

To 


222  To  Miss  Burney.  [a.d.  1781. 

735. 

To  [Mr.  Perkins]  ^ 
Sir, 

Mrs.  Thrale  has  informed  me  of  the  iron  resolution  of  Mr. 
Cator  and  Mr.  Crutchley.  They  have  law  on  their  side,  and 
cannot  be  opposed.  What  then  can  be  done?  If  time  will  do 
any  thing  for  you,  that  you  may  apply  to  your  friends,  I  will 
struggle  for  that.  I  think  Mr.  Barclay's  interest  so  much  requires 
your  concurrence  and  assistance,  that  if  you  cannot  procure 
security,  he  must  help  you.  His  difficulties  are  only  niceties. 
Do  not  be  bashful,  use  all  the  efforts  that  you  can. 

I  am.  Sir, 

Your  humble  Servant, 
July  2,1781.  Sam:  Johnson. 

I  shall  come  to  you  this  morning,  but  I  will  meet  Mrs.  Thrale 
to-morrow  about  twelve. 

736. 

To  Miss  Burney  ^ 
Dear  Madam, 

Pray  let  these  books  be  sent  after  the  former  to  the  gentle- 
man whose  name  I  do  not  know. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
July 9,1781.  Sam:  Johnson. 

'  From  the    original   in  the  pos-  not  himself  if  Perkins  were  drowned, 

session  of  Mr.  W.  G.  Anderson,  of  offered    to    lend    him    a    thousand 

Beechhill,  Fairfield,  Liverpool.  pounds,    merely   by  way   of    giving 

On  the  day  on  which  this  letter  pleasure    to    Mrs.    Thrale.'      Mme. 

was    written.    Miss    Burney   in    her  D'Arblay's   Diary,   ii.  72.     Perkins, 

Diary  praises  '  Mrs.  Thrale's  gene-  who  had  knowledge  of  the  business, 

rosity  to  Mr.  Perkins,  whom  she  does  had  not,  it  is  clear,  capital  enough 

not  like.     Everything  in  her  power  at  his  command  to  pay  for  his  share, 

is  she  doing  to  establish  him  com-  ^  First  published  in  77/^ £'ar/^Z'/ary 

fortably  in  the  Brewhouse,  even  to  of  Frances  Burtiey,  ed.  1889,  i.  169. 

the  lending  all  her  own  money  that  The  gentleman  was  William  Bewly 

is  in  the  Stocks.'     Miss  Burney  adds  a  country-surgeon,   'well  known   in 

that  Mr.  Crutchley, '  though  he  cared  Norfolk  by  the  name  of  the  Philoso- 

To 


Aetat.  71.] 


To  Miss  Rey7iolds. 


223 


737 

To  Thomas  Astle. 
[London],  July  17,  1781.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  133. 


738. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^ 
Dearest  Madam,  Bolt  Court,  July  21, 1781. 

There  is  in  these  \_papersf^  such  force  of  comprehension, 
such  nicety  of  observation,  as  Locke  or  Pascal  might  be  proud 
of.  This  I  say  with  an  intention  to  have  you  think  I  speak  my 
opinion.  They  cannot,  however,  be  printed  in  their  present 
state.  Many  of  your  notions  seem  not  very  clear  in  your  own 
mind  ;  many  are  not  sufficiently  developed  and  expanded  for  the 
common  reader  :  the  expression  almost  every  where  wants  to 


pher  of  Massingham^  a  great  ad- 
mirer of  Johnson's  writings.  '  When 
Dr.  Burney  visited  Dr.  Johnson  at 
the  Temple  he  arrived  there  before 
he  was  up.  Being  shown  into  the 
room  where  he  was  to  breakfast, 
finding  himself  alone,  he  examined 
the  contents  of  the  apartment,  to 
try  whether  he  could  undiscovered 
steal  any  thing  to  send  to  his  friend 
Bewley,  as  another  reliclc  of  the  ad- 
mirable Dr.  Johnson.  But  finding 
nothing  better  to  his  purpose,  he  cut 
some  bristles  off  his  hearth-broom, 
and  enclosed  them  in  a  letter  to  his 
country  enthusiast,  who  received  them 
with  due  reverence.  The  Doctor  was 
so  sensible  of  the  honour  done  him 
by  a  man  of  genius  and  science,  to 
whom  he  was  an  utter  stranger,  that 
he  said  to  Dr.  Burney,  "Sir,  there  is 
no  man  possessed  of  the  smallest 
portion  of  modesty,  but  must  be 
flattered  with  the  admiration  of  such 
a  man.  I'll  give  him  a  set  of  my 
Lives,  if  he  will  do  me  the  honour 
to  accept  of  them." '  He  sent  them 
to  Dr.  Burney's  house  directed,  '  For 


the  Broom  Gentleman.'  Life,  iv.  134  ; 
Early  Diary,  &'c.,  i.  18,  n.  i,  and 
Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney,  ii.  180. 
The  books  which  he  now  sent  were 
the  later  volumes  of  the  Lives. 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  697. 

In  the  sixth  edition  of  Boswell 
(181 1),  iv.  143,  is  given  a  version  of 
this  letter  which  differs  in  not  a  few 
words.  It  was  perhaps  written  down 
from  memory  by  some  one  who  had 
been  allowed  to  read  the  original. 

Miss  Reynolds's  work,  writes  North- 
cote,  was  called  An  Essay  on  Taste. 
'  It  was  privately  printed,  but  was 
never  published.'  He  gives  some 
specimens  of  it,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  perhaps  the  best : — '  There  is 
always  something  respectable  in  the 
object  that  excites  the  strongest  ridi- 
cule, otherwise  it  would  want  the 
contrast  which  makes  it  ridiculous.' 
Life  of  Reynolds,  ii.  11 5-8.  Re  sped - 
able,  at  this  time,  meant  wort/iy  of 
respect. 

There  is  no  copy  of  Miss  Reynolds's 
work  in  the  British  Museum. 

be 


2  24         ^'^  ^^^^  Reverend  Dr.  Thomas  Patten,    [a.d.  1781. 


be   made  clearer  and  smoother.     You  may,  by  revisal  and   im- 
provement, make  it  a  very  elegant  work. 

I  am. 

My  dearest  dear, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 
739. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Thomas  Patten  '. 
Dear  Sir,  Sept.  25,  1781. 

It  is  so  long  since  we  passed  any  time  together,  that  you 
may  be  allowed  to  have  forgotten  some  part  of  my  character ; 
and  I  know  not  upon  what  other  supposition  I  can  pass  without 
censure  or  complaint  the  ceremony  of  your  address.  Let  me 
not  trifle  time  in  words,  to  which  while  we  .speak  or  write  them 
we  assign  little  meaning.  Whenever  you  favour  me  with  a  letter, 
treat  me  as  one  that  is  glad  of  your  kindness  and  proud  of  your 
esteem  "". 


'  First  published  in  the  Gentle- 
mail's  Magazine  for  April,    1819,  i. 

293- 

Dr.  Patten  was  Rector  of  Childrey 
near  Wantage,  where  he  died  on 
February  28,  1790.  Geiitletnan^s 
Magazine,  1790,  p.  368,  where  is 
given  a  list  of  his  publications.  The 
Rev.  Thomas  Wilson,  Head  Master 
of  Clitheroe  Grammar  School,  pub- 
lished in  1782  an  Archceological 
Dictionary ;  or  Classical  Antiquities 
of  the  Jews,  Greeks  and  Romans, 
alphabetically  arranged.  It  was  dedi- 
cated to  Johnson,  who  acknowledged 
the  honour  in  a  letter  in  the  Life, 
iv.  162.  The  book  is  a  small  octavo. 
'  It  will,  I  trust,'  says  the  author  in 
his  Preface,  '  be  found  a  ready  Oracle 
to  the  Student  and  Gentleman  of 
Classical  Taste,  and  an  useful  Re- 
membrancer to  the  Man  of  Erudi- 
tion.' A  curious  account  of  Wilson 
is  given  in  some  numbers  of  the 
Preston  Guardian  at  the  end  of 
December,  1888. 


^  In  his  letter  to  Johnson,  Dr. 
Patten  had  said  : — '  Nothing  would 
more  highly  gratify  my  taste  and  my 
pride  than  a  correspondence  with  my 
dear  and  honoured  friend  Johnson.' 
But  he  is  afraid,  he  continues,  of 
'  the  Master  of  the  Sentences.'  He 
concludes  by  signing  himself  '  one  of 
your  most,  faithful  and  most  affec- 
tionate friends.'  Of  his  intimacy  with 
him  nothing,  I  believe,  is  known.  In 
his  letter  he  quotes  the  following 
lines  in  Miscellany  Poems  on  several 
Occasions.  Written  by  a  Lady,  1 7 1 3 : — 
'Now  the  Jonquille  o'erwhelms  the 
feeble  brain, 

We   faint    beneath    the    aromatic 
pain.' 
They   are   the    source,   he   says,    of 
Pope's  lines  in  the  Essay  on  Man,  i. 

199:— 

*  Or,  quick  effluvia  darting  thro'  the 
brain. 
Die  of  a  rose  in  aromatic  pain  ? ' 
Gentleman^ s  Magazine,  1 819,  i. 
291. 

The 


Aetat.  72.]      To  the  Reverend  D 7' .  Thomas  Patten.        225 

The  papers  which  have  been  sent  for  my  perusal  I  am  ready 
to  inspect,  if  you  judge  my  inspection  necessary  or  useful :  but 
indeed,  I  do  not ;  for  what  advantage  can  arise  from  it  ?  A 
Dictionary  consists  of  independent  parts,  and  therefore  one  page 
is  not  much  a  specimen  of  the  rest.  It  does  not  occur  to  me 
that  I  can  give  any  assistance  to  the  Author,  and  for  my  own 
interest  I  resign  it  into  your  hands,  and  do  not  suppose  that  I 
shall  ever  see  my  name  with  regret  where  you  shall  think  it 
proper  to  be  put. 

I  think  it,  however,  my  duty  to  inform  a  writer  who  intends 
me  so  great  an  honour,  that  in  my  opinion  he  would  have  con- 
sulted his  interest  by  dedicating  his  Work  to  some  powerful 
and  popular  neighbour,  who  can  give  him  more  than  a  name. 
What  will  the  world  do  but  look  on  and  laugh  when  one  scholar 
dedicates  to  another? 

If  I  had  been  consulted  about  this  Lexicon  of  Antiquities 
while  it  was  yet  only  a  design,  I  should  have  recommended 
rather  a  division  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Roman  particulars 
into  three  volumes,  than  a  combination  in  one '.  The 
Hebrew  part,  at  least,  I  would  have  wished  to  separate,  as  it 
might  be  made  a  very  popular  book,  of  which  the  use  might 
be  extended  from  men  of  learning  down  to  the  English 
reader,  and  which  might  become  a  concomitant  to  the  Family 
Bible. 

When  works  of  a  multifarious  and  extensive  kind  are  under- 
taken in  the  country,  the  necessary  books  are  not  always  known. 
I  remember  a  very  learned  and  ingenious  Clergyman,  of  whom, 
when  he  had  published  Notes  upon  the  Psalms,  I  enquired  what 
was  his  opinion  of  Hammond's  Commentary,  and  was  answered, 
that  he  had  never  heard  of  it^  As  this  gentleman  has  the 
opportunity  of  consulting  you,  it  needs  not  be  supposed  that  he 
has  not  heard  of  all  the  proper  books  ;  but  unless  he  is  near 

'  '  I  remember,'  writes  Dean  Percy,  -  Johnson  in  his  character  of  the 

'Dr.  Johnson  once  told  me  he  had  Rev.  Zachariah  Mudge  mentions  that 

intended  in  an  early  part  of  his  life  d\\'\x\&'s  Noies  upon /he  Psahns.  Life, 

to  compose  a  Dictionary  of  English  iv.  77.    Even  Lucy  Porter  read  Ham- 

or    British   Antiquities.'     Letters   of  mond's  Commentary  on  the  Psalms. 

Dr.  Percy  to  George  Paton,  p.  j^.  Ante,  i.  357. 

VOL.  IL                                          Q  some 


2  26  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1781. 

some  Library,  I  know  not  how  he  could  peruse  them  ;  and  if 
he  is  conscious  that  his  siipellex  is  niinis  angusta  ^,  it  would 
be  prudent  to  delay  his  publication  till  his  deficiences  may  be 
supplied. 

It  seems  not  very  candid  to  hint  any  suspicions  of  imperfection 
in  a  Work  which  I  have  not  seen,  yet  what  I  have  said  ought  to 
be  excused,  since  I  cannot  but  wish  well  to  a  learned  man, 
who  has  elected  me  for  the  honour  of  a  Dedication,  and  to  whom 
I  am  indebted  for  a  correspondence  so  valuable  as  yours.  And 
I  beg  that  I  may  not  lose  any  part  of  his  kindness,  which  I  con- 
sider with  respectful  gratitude.  Of  you,  dear  Sir,  I  entreat  that 
you  will  never  again  forget  for  so  long  a  time, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Bolt-court,  Fleet-street. 
Sept.  24,  1781. 

740. 

To  Mauritius  Lowe.  Oct.  15,  1781. 

In  one  of  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Company's  Auction  Catalogues,  the 
reference  to  which  I  have  mislaid.  Lot.  157  is  a  Letter  from  Dr.  Johnson 
to  Mr.  Lowe,  dated  Oct.  15,  1781. 

'  Has  put  Mr.  Kearsley's  note  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Allen,  to  whom 
he  owes  rent.' 

Mr.  Lowe  was,  I  suppose,  the  needy  Mauritius  Lowe,  a^ife,  ii.  203. 
Kearsley  was  a  bookseller  in  Fleet  Street.  Zife,  i.  214.  Nichols  writing 
of  his  shop  describes  it  as  '  the  political  storehouse  of  George  Kearsley.' 
Z//.  Hi'sf.  V.  428.  Edmund  Allen,  the  printer,  was  Johnson's  landlord 
and  next  neighbour  in  Bolt  Court.    Li/e,  iii.  141. 


741. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  o.xford,  Oct.  17,  1781. 

On     Monday    evening     arrived    at     the     Angel    Inn    at 

•  Johnson  has  quoted  before  (an/e,      '  res    angusta    domi.'      Satires,    iii. 
i.  64)    '  curta    supcllex'    from    Per-       165. 
sius,    Satires,   iv.   52.      Juvenal    has  '  Piozzi  Letters,  \\.  10%. 

Oxford, 


Aetat.  72.  j 


To  Mrs.  Th7'ale. 


22' 


Oxford',  Mr.  Johnson  and  Mr.  Barber^,  without  any  sinister 
accident. 

I  am  here ;  but  why  am  I  here  ?  On  my  way  to  Lichfield, 
where  I  believe  Mrs.  Aston  will  be  glad  to  see  me.  We  have 
known  each  other  long,  and,  by  consequence,  are  both  old  ;  and 
she  is  paralytick  ;  and  if  I  do  not  see  her  soon,  I  may  see  her 
no  more  in  this  world  ^.  To  make  a  visit  on  such  considerations 
is  to  go  on  a  melancholy  errand.     But  such  is  the  course  of  life. 

This  place  is  very  empty,  but  there  are  more  here  whom  I 
know,  than  I  could  have  expected  *.  Young  Burke  ^  has  just 
been  with  me,  and  I  have  dined  to  day  with  Dr.  Adams  ^,  who 


'  The  Angel  Inn  stood  in  the  High 
Street,  but  was  pulled  down  to  make 
way  for  the  New  Schools.  Twenty- 
seven  years  before  Johnson's  visit, 
Pitt  and  a  party  of  his  friends  were 
at  the  window  of  the  Inn,  when  a 
lady  in  the  company  sang  God  sa^e 
great  George  otir  Kitig.  '  The  chorus 
was  re-echoed  by  a  set  of  young  lads 
drinking  at  a  college  over  the  way 
[Queen's],  but  with  additions  of  rank 
treason.'  Pitt  described  the  scene  to 
the  House  of  Commons.  Walpole's 
George  //,ed.  1822,1. 2SS.  Johnson  and 
Boswell,  in  March,  1776,  passed  two 
evenings  in  the  Angel  '  in  easy  and 
familiar  conversation.'  Lz/e,  ii.  440,  9. 

^  Johnson's  black  servant,  Frank 
Barber. 

^  He  made  the  following  record  in 
his  Diary: — 'Sunday,  October  14, 
1 781  (properly  Monday  morning).  I 
am  this  day  about  to  go  by  Oxford 
and  Birmingham  to  Lichfield  and 
Ashbourne.  The  motives  of  my  jour- 
ney I  hardly  know.  I  omitted  it  last 
year,  and  am  not  willing  to  miss  it 
again.  Mrs.  Aston  will  be  glad,  I 
think,  to  see  me.  We  are  both  old, 
and  if  I  put  off  my  visit  I  may  see 
her  no  more  ;  perhaps  she  wishes 
for  another  interview.  She  is  a  very 
good  woman. 

Hector  is  likewise  an  old  friend. 


Q  2 


the  only  companion  of  my  childhood 
that  passed  through  the  school  with 
me.  We  have  always  loved  one 
another.  Perhaps  we  may  be  made 
better  by  some  serious  conversation,  of 
which  however  I  have  no  distinct  hope. 

At  Lichfield,  my  native  place,  I 
hope  to  show  a  good  example  by 
frequent  attendance  on  public  wor- 
ship. [Perhaps  by  way  of  penance  for 
his  habit  of  playing  truant  from 
church  in  his  boyhood.    Life,  i.  67.] 

At  Ashbourne  I  hope  to  talk  seri- 
ously with  Taylor.'  Fr.  and  Med. 
p.  201. 

"*  By  October  17  one  would  have 
expected  the  LTniversity  to  be  full. 
A  young  student  of  Queen's  writing 
on  October  7,  1779,  says: — 'The 
University  is  yet  thin  and  desolate. 
As  the  term  does  not  begin  till  the 
tenth,  few  of  the  absentees  will  think 
of  returning  till  the  last  minute.' 
Letters  of  Radcliffe  and  James,  p. 
85.    See  ante,  i.  361,  n.  i. 

^  Edmund  Burke's  only  son,  of 
whom  the  fond  father  is  reported  to 
have  said  : — '  How  extraordinary  it 
is  that  I,  and  Lord  Chatham,  and 
Lord  Holland,  should  each  have  a  son 
so  superior  to  ourselves.'  Miss  Haw- 
kins's Memoirs,  i.  304.  Lord  Hol- 
land's son  was  Charles  James  Fox. 

*  Master  of  Pembroke  College. 

seems 


228 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1781. 


seems  fond  of  me.  But  I  have  not  been  very  well.  I  hope 
I  am  not  ill  by  sympathy,  and  that  you  are  making  haste  to 
recover  your  plumpness '  and  your  complexion.  I  left  you 
skinny  and  lean. 

To-morrow,  if  I   can,   I  shall  go  forward  ^  and  when   I   see 
Lichfield  I  shall  write  again. 

Mr.  Parker,  the  bookseller  ^  sends  his  respects  to  you  :  I  send 
mine  to  the  young  ladies.  I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


742. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  Oct.  20,  1781. 

I  wrote  from  Oxford,  where  I  staid  two  days ;  on 
Thursday  I  went  to  Birmingham,  and  was  told  by  Hector  that 
I  should  not  be  well  so  soon  as  I  expected  ;  but  that  well  I 
should  be-\  Mrs.  Careless''  took  me  under  her  care,  and  told 
me  when  I  had  tea  enough.  On  Friday  I  came  hither,  and  have 
escaped  the  post-chaises  all  the  way.  Every  body  here  is  as 
kind  as  I  expected,  I  think  Lucy  '^  is  kinder  than  ever.  I  am 
very  well.  Now  we  are  both  valetudinary,  we  shall  have  some- 
thing to  write  about.  We  can  tell  each  other  our  complaints, 
and  give  reciprocal  comfort  and  advice,  as — not  to  eat  too 
much — and — not  to  drink  too  little  ^  and  we  may  now  and 
then  add  a  few  strictures  of  reproof :  and  so  we  may  write  and 
write  till  we  can  find  another  subject.  Pray  make  my  com- 
pliments to  all  the  ladies,  great  and  little. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 


'  Boswell  describes  Mrs.  Thrale 
as  '  short,  plump,  and  brisk.'  Life, 
i.  494. 

"His  'power  of  departure  de- 
pended upon  accidental  vacancies  in 
passing  coaches,'  unless  he  would  go 
to  the  expense  of  a  post-chaise.  Ante., 
i.  325. 

^  For  a  description  of  Johnson's 
*  old  friend,  Sack.  Parker,'  see  Life, 


iv.  308.  Mrs.  Thrale  had  probably 
seen  him  when  in  September,  1774, 
she  '  wandered  about  the  University.' 
lb.  V.  459. 

*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  205. 
^  Post,  p.  236. 

*  Hector's    sister,    Johnson's    first 
love.    Aiite,  i.  41,  n.  2. 

'  His  step-daughter,  Lucy  Porter. 
^  Ante,  i.  223,  368,  408. 

To 


Aetat.  72.] 


To  M7's.  Tkrale. 


229 


743. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 

Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  Oct.  23, 17S1. 

I  had  both  your  letters,  and  very  little  good  news  in  either 
of  them.  The  diminution  of  the  estate,  though  unpleasing  and 
unexpected,  must  be  borne,  because  it  cannot  be  helped  ;  but 
I  do  not  apprehend  why  the  other  part  of  your  income  should 
fall  short.  I  understood  that  you  were  to  have  £  1 ,500  yearly 
from  the  money  arising  from  the  sale,  and  that  your  claim  was 
first. 

I  sincerely  applaud  your  resolution  not  to  run  out  ^  and  wish 
you  always  to  save  something,  for  that  which  is  saved  may  be 
spent  at  will,  and  the  advantages  are  very  many  of  saving  ^ 
some  money  loose  and  unappropriated.  If  your  ammunition 
is  always  ready,  you  may  shoot  advantage  as  it  starts,  or 
pleasure  as  it  flies.     Resolve  therefore  never  to  want  money  *. 

The  Gravedo  ^  is  not  removed,  nor  does  it  increase.  My 
nights  have  commonly  been  bad.  Mrs.  Aston  is  much  as  I 
left  her,  without  any  new  symptoms  ;  but,  between  time  and 
palsy,  wearing  away.     Mrs.  Gastrel  is  brisk  and  lively. 

Burney  told  me  that  she  was  to  go,  but  you  will  have  my 
dear  Oueeney;  tell  her  that  I  do  not  forget  her,  and  that  I 
hope  she  remembers   me.     Against  our  meeting  we  will  both 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  206. 

^  Johnson  in  \i\s  Dictionary  oy\.o\.Q?> 
from  Swift : — 
'And  had  her  stock  been  less,  no 
doubt, 

She  must  have  long  ago  run  out.' 

^  Johnson,  I  conjecture,  wrote 
having. 

*  '  Resolve  never  to  be  poor.'  Life, 
iv.  163. 

^  The  following  note  I  owe  to  the 
kindness  of  Dr.  Norman  Moore. 
'  Gravedo  is  commonly  used  as  a 
synonym  for  catarrh  and  for  coryza. 
Catarrh  in  its  widest  sense  includes 
general  rheumatic  pains.  I  think 
that  Dr.  Johnson's  meaning  may  be 


interpreted  through  one  of  his 
physicians.  Dr.  Heberden,  and  the 
term  gravedo  taken  to  mean  a  dis- 
order with  "  cold  in  the  head  "  ac- 
companied by  pains  in  the  limbs. 

'  Heberden  says  : — "  Necessarium 
est  OS  et  fauces  et  nares  atque  oculos 
assidue  madere  ;  quapropter  humor 
manat  de  quibusdam  glandulis,  et 
membranis  ;  qui  si  modum  naturalem 
excedat,  dicitur  destillatio  gravedo 
vel  catarrhus."  He  had  known  such 
an  habitual  gravedo  followed  by 
palsy,  and  by  asthma.  Both  symp- 
toms to  some  extent  formed  part  of 
Dr.  Johnson's  illness.'  See  post. 
Letter  of  February  17,  1782. 

make 


230  To  Mrs.    Thrale.  [a.d.  1781. 

make  good  resolutions,  which  on  my  side,  I  hope  to  keep  ;  but 
such  hopes  are  very  deceitful.  I  would  not  willingly  think  the 
same  of  all  hopes,  and  particularly  should  be  loath  to  suspect 
of  deceit,  my  hope  of  being  always, 

Dearest  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

744. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dearest  dear  Lady,  [Lichfield],  Oct.  27,  1781. 

Your  Oxford  letter  followed  me  hither,  with  Lichfield  put 
upon  the  direction  in  the  place  of  Oxford,  and  was  received  at 
the  same  time  as  the  letter  written  next  after  it.  All  is  there- 
fore well. 

Oueeney  is  a  naughty  captious  girl,  that  will  not  write  because 
I  did  not  remember  to  ask  her.  Pray  tell  her  that  I  ask  her 
now,  and  that  I  depend  upon  her  for  the  history  of  her  own  time. 

Poor  Lucy's  illness  has  left  her  very  deaf,  and,  I  think,  very 
inarticulate.  I  can  scarcely  make  her  understand  me,  and  she 
can  hardly  make  me  understand  her.  So  here  are  merry  doings  '. 
But  she  seems  to  like  me  better  than  she  did.  She  eats  very 
little,  but  does  not  fall  away. 

Mrs.  Cobb  and  Peter  Garrick  are  as  you  left  them.  Garrick's 
legatees  at  this  place  are  very  angry  that  they  receive  nothing^. 
Things  are  not  quite  right,  though  we  are  so  far  from  London  "*. 

'  Piozzi  Letters^  ii.  208.  proportion  to  their  legacies,  and  wait 

'^  Anie,\\.  \\b.  until    the    death    of    my   wife,    &c.' 

^  Garrick  left  large  legacies  to  his  Davies's   Life   of   Garrick,   ii.   427. 

two  brothers,  sister,  two  nephews  and  She  perhaps  outlived  them  all,  for 

a  niece,  '  to  be  paid,'  he  said,  '  out  of  she  survived  her  husband  43  years, 

the   residue    of  my  personal   estate  See  post,   Letter  of  April  30,  1782, 

which  shall  remain  after  paying  the  where     Johnson     writes  :  —  '  Poor 

legacies  [of  ^6,000]  to  my  wife,  and  Garrick's   funeral    expenses   are  yet 

securing  the  annuities  as  aforesaid.  unpaid,    though    the    undertaker    is 

[She   was    to    have    an    annuity  of  broken.' 

^1,500  if  she  lived  in  England,  and  ■•  '  Resolved    at    length    from    vice 

of  ;{^i,ooo  if  she  resided  in  Scotland,  and  London  far 

Ireland,   or   beyond    sea.]     If  there  To  breathe    in   distant    fields   a 

shall  not  be  sufficient  to  pay  all  the  purer  air.' 

legacies,  the  legacies  shall  abate  in  Johnson's  London,  1.  5. 

Mrs.  Aston 


Aetat.  72.]  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  231 

Mrs.  Aston  is  just  as  I  left  her.  She  walks  no  worse ;  but  I 
am  afraid  speaks  less  distinctly  as  to  her  utterance.  Her  mind 
is  untouched.  She  eats  too  little,  and  wears  away.  The  ex- 
tenuation '  is  her  only  bad  symptom.     She  was  glad  to  see  me. 

That  naughty  girl  Queeney,  now  she  is  in  my  head  again,  how 
could  she  think  that  I  did  not  wish  to  hear  from  her,  a  dear 
sweet. — But  he  must  suffer  who  can  love. 

All  here  is  gloomy;  a  faint  struggle  with  the  tediousness  of 
time ;  a  doleful  confession  of  present  misery,  and  the  approach 
seen  and  felt  of  what  is  most  dreaded  and  most  shunned "".  But 
such  is  the  lot  of  man.      i  am,  dearest  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

745. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  Oct.  31, 178 1. 

It  almost  enrages  me  to  be  suspected  of  forgetting  the 
discovery  of  the  papers  relating  to  Cummins's  claim  '*.  These 
papers  we  must  grant  the  liberty  of  using,  because  the  law  will 
not  suffer  us  to  deny  them.  We  may  be  summoned  to  declare 
what  we  know,  and  what  we  know  is  in  those  papers.  When 
the  evidence  appears,  »  »  *  *  will  be  directed  by  her  lawyers  to 
submit  in  quiet.  I  suppose  it  will  be  proper  to  give  at  first  only 
a  transcript. 

Your  income,  diminished  as  it  is,  you  may,  without  any  painful 
frugality,  make  sufficient.  I  wish  your  health  were  as  much  in 
your  power,  and  the  effects  of  abstinence  were  as  certain  as  those 
of  parsimony.  Of  your  regimen  I  do  not  think  with  much  ap- 
probation ;  it  is  only  palliative,  and  crops  the  disease,  but  does 
not  eradicate  it.  I  wish  you  had  at  the  beginning  digested  full 
meals  in  a  warm  room,  and  excited  the  humour  to  exhaust  its 
power  upon  the  surface.     This,  I  believe,  must  be  done  at  last. 

'  Ante,  ii.  159,  n.  4.  the  thoughts  of  it."  '     Life,  ii.  93. 

"^  '  BOSWELL.      "Is    not    the  fear  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  \\.  2\o. 

cf  death  natural  to  man?"     John-  ''  Mrs.  Cumins  is  mentioned  ante, 

SON.     "So  much   so,   Sir,  that  the  ii.  181,  and  Mrs.  Cumyns  further  on 

whole  of  Hfe   is   but  keeping  away  in  the  present  letter. 

Miss  Seward 


232 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1781. 


Miss  Seward  has  been  enquiring  after  Susan  Thrale,  of  whom 
she  had  heard  so  much  from  Mrs,  Cumyns,  as  excites  her  cu- 
riosity. If  my  little  dear  Perversity  continues  to  be  cross,  Susy ' 
may  be  my  girl  too ;  but  I  had  rather  have  them  both.  If 
Queeney  does  not  write  soon  she  shall  have  a  very  reprehensory  ^ 
letter. 

I  have  here  but  a  dull  scene.  Poor  Lucy's  health  is  very  much 
broken.  She  takes  very  little  of  either  food  or  exercise,  and  her 
hearing  is  very  dull,  and  her  utterance  confused ;  but  she  will 
have  Watts s  Improvement  of  the  Mind^.  Her  mental  powers 
are  not  impaired,  and  her  social  virtues  seem  to  increase.  She 
never  was  so  civil  to  me  before. 

Mrs.  Aston  is  not,  that  I  perceive,  worse  than  when  I  left  her  ; 
but  she  eats  too  little,  and  is  somewhat  emaciated.  She  likewise 
is  glad  to  see  me,  and  I  am  glad  that  I  have  come. 

There  is  little  of  the  sunshine  of  life,  and  my  own  health  does 
not  gladden  me.  But  to  scatter  the  gloom — I  went  last  night  to 
the  balP,  where,  you  know,  I  can  be  happy  even  without  you. 
On  the  ball  which  was  very  gay,  I  looked  awhile,  and  went 
away.  I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

746. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 
Dearest  Madam,  Lichfield,  Nov.  3, 1781. 

You  very  kindly  remind  me  of  the  dear  home  which  I  have 


^  See  ante,  ii.  44,  where  he 
writes  : — '  I  was  always  a  Susy  when 
nobody  else  was  a  Susy.' 

"  Reprehensory  is  not  in  Johnson's 
Dictionary. 

^  No  doubt  she  had  been  reading 
in  Johnson's  Life  of  Watts  the 
passage  where  he  says  :  —  '  Few 
books  have  been  perused  by  me 
with  greater  pleasure  than  his  Im- 
provement of  the  Mind'  Works, 
viii.  385. 


■'  Miss  Burney  recorded  the  follow- 
ing year  at  Brighton  : — '  October  28, 
17S2.  Dr.  Johnson  accompanied  us 
to  a  ball,  to  the  universal  amazement 
of  all  who  saw  him  there  ;  but  he 
said  he  had  found  it  so  dull  being 
quite  alone  the  preceding  evening, 
that  he  determined  upon  going  with 
us ;  ''  for,"'  said   he,    "  it    cannot    be 


worse   than   being   alone." ' 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  161. 
^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  219. 


Mme. 


left; 


Aetat.  72.]  To  Mvs.  Tkvale.  233 

left ' ;  but  I  need  none  of  your  aids  to  recollection,  for  I  am  here 
gasping  for  breath,  and  yet  better  than  those  whom  I  came  to 
visit.  Mrs.  Aston  has  been  for  three  years  a  paralytic  crawler  ; 
but,  I  think,  with  her  mind  unimpaired.  She  seems  to  me  such 
as  I  left  her ;  but  she  now  eats  little,  and  is  therefore  much  ema- 
ciated. Her  sister  thinks  her,  and  she  thinks  herself,  passing  fast 
away. 

Lucy  has  had  since  my  last  visit  a  dreadful  illness,  from  which 
her  physicians  declared  themselves  hopeless  of  recovering  her, 
and  which  has  shaken  the  general  fabrick,  and  weakened  the 
powers  of  life.  She  is  unable  or  unwilling  to  move,  and  is  never 
likely  to  have  more  of  either  strength  or  spirit  ^. 

I  am  so  visibly  disordered,  that  a  medical  man,  who  only  saw 
me  at  church,  sent  me  some  pills.  To  those  whom  I  love  here 
I  can  give  no  help,  and  from  those  that  love  me  none  can  I  re- 
ceive.   Do  you  think  that  I  need  to  be  reminded  of  home  and  you  ? 

The  time  of  the  year  is  not  very  favourable  to  excursions.  I 
thought  myself  above  assistance  or  obstruction  from  the  seasons  ^ ; 
but  find  the  autumnal  blast  sharp  and  nipping,  and  the  fading 
world  an  uncomfortable  prospect.  Yet  I  may  say  with  Milton, 
that  I  do  not  abate  much  of  heart  or  hope'^.  To  what  I  have 
done  I  do  not  despair  of  adding  something,  but  what  it  shall  be 
I  know  not.  I  am,  Madam, 

Most  affectionately  yours, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

747. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear   Madam,  Ashbourne,  Nov.  10,  1781. 

Yesterday  I  came  to  Ashbourne,  and  last  night  I  had  very 

'  '  Come  home,'  she  had  written,  seasons  see  Life,  i.  332,  and  for  his 

'for   'tis    dull    living   without    you.'  discovery  that  he  had  himself  become 

Piozsi  Letters,  W.  216.     For  his  use  dependent  upon  the  weather,  ib.  iv. 

of  the  term  home  see  ante,  i.  129.  353,  360. 

^  She    hved    till    January,     1786.  "                          '  nor  bate  a  jot 

Miss  Seward's  Letters,  i.  109.  Of  heart  or  hope.' 

^  For  Johnson's  belief  that  a  man  Milton.     Sonnet,  No.  xxii. 

could  make  himself  superior  to  the  ^  Piozsi  Letters,  ii.  221. 

little 


2  34  ^^    ^^•^-    ^/^^^^^-  [A.D.  1781. 


little  rest.  Dr.  Taylor  lives  on  milk,  and  grows  every  day  better, 
and  is  not  wholly  without  hope.  Every  body  enquires  after  you 
and  Oueeney ;  but  whatever  Burney  may  think  of  the  celerity  of 
fame,  the  name  of  Evelina  had  never  been  heard  at  Lichfield  till 
I  brought  it.  I  am  afraid  my  dear  townsmen  will  be  mentioned 
in  future  days  as  the  last  part  of  this  nation  that  was  civilised  \ 
But  the  days  of  darkness  are  soon  to  be  at  an  end ;  the  reading 
society  ordered  it  to  be  procured  this  week. 

Since  I  came  into  this  quarter  of  the  earth  I  have  had  a  very 
sorry  time,  and  I  hope  to  be  better  when  I  come  back.  The 
little  paddock  and  plantations  here  are  very  bleak.  The  Bishop 
of  Chester  is  here  now  with  his  father-in-law^;  he  sent  us  a 
message  last  night,  and  I  intend  to  visit  him. 

Most  of  your  Ashbourne  friends  are  well.  Mr.  Kennedy's 
daughter  has  married  a  shoemaker,  and  he  lives  with  them,  and 
has  left  his  parsonage.  I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

748. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dear  Madam,  Ashbourne,  Nov.  12,  1 78 1. 

I  have  a  mind  to  look  on  Queeney  as  my  own  dear  girl ; 
and  if  I  set  her  a  bad  example,  I  ought  to  counteract  it  by  good 
precepts  ;  and  he  that  knows  the  consequences  of  any  fault  is 
best  qualified  to  tell  them.  I  have  through  my  whole  progress 
of  authorship  honestly  endeavoured  to  teach  the  right,  though  I 
have  not  been  sufficiently  diligent  to  practise  it,  and  have  offered 

'  Evelina     had    been     published  married     the     daughter   of    '  Brian 

nearly     four    years.       Nevertheless  Hodgson,      Esq.,     of     Ashbourne.' 

Johnson  had  boasted  to  Boswell  that  Porteus's  lVor/:s,ed.  iSii,  i.  17.     In 

the    inhabitants    of    Lichfield    were  a  curious   correspondence  in  Notes 

'  the  genteelest  in  proportion  to  their  and  Queries  (7th  S.  v.  241,  294,  330, 

wealth,  and  spoke  the  purestEnglish.'  494)  it  is  shown  that  Brian   Hodg- 

Life,  ii.  463.     In  their  ignorance  of  son,  before  he  retired  to  Ashbourne, 

Evelina  they  were  not  behind  some  had  kept  the  George  Inn  at  Stam- 

of  the  great  people  in  London.     See  ford.      By    mistake    in    this    corre- 

Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  121.  spondence  Ashbourne  is  stated  to  be 

*  BeilbyPorteus,aftcrwards  Bishop  in  Kent, 
of  London.     Life,  iii.  279.     He  had  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  222. 

mankind 


Aetat.  72.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


235 


mankind  my  opinion  as  a  rule,  but  never  professed  my  behaviour 
as  an  example '. 

I    shall    be    very   sorry   to  lose    Mr.   ;    but   why  should 

he  so  certainly  die?     *  *  *  »  needed  not  have  died  if  he    had 

tried  to  live.     If  Mr. will  drink  a  great  deal  of  water,  the 

acrimony  that  corrodes  his  bowels  will  be  diluted,  if  the  cause 
be  only  acrimony ;  but  I  suspect  dysenteries  to  be  produced  by 
animalcula,  which  I  know  not  how  to  kill. 

If  the  medical  man  did  me  good,  it  was  by  his  benevolence  ; 
by  his  pills  I  never  mended  ^.  I  am,  however,  rather  better  than 
I  was. 

Dear  Mrs. ^,  she  has  the  courage  becoming  an  admiral's 

lady,  but  courage  is  no  virtue  in  her  cause. 

I  have  been  at  Lichfield  persecuted  with  solicitations  to  read 
a  poem  ;  but  I  sent  the  authour  word,  that  I  would  never  review 
the  work  of  an  anonymous  authour ;  for  why  should  I  put  my 
name  in  the  power  of  one  who  will  not  trust  me  with  his  own. 
With  this  answer  Lucy  was  satisfied,  and  I  think  it  may  satisfy 
all  whom  it  may  concern  "*. 


'  Lady  Macleod  (speaking  of 
Cheyne's  book  on  the  gout)  '  ob- 
jected that  the  author  does  not 
practise  what  he  teaches.  Johnson. 
"  I  cannot  help  that,  madam.  That 
does  not  make  his  book  the  worse. 
People  are  influenced  more  by  what 
a  man  says,  if  his  practice  is  suitable 
to  it, — because  they  are  blockheads. 
The  more  intellectual  people  are,  the 
readier  will  they  attend  to  what  a 
man  tells  them.  If  it  is  just,  they 
will  follow  it,  be  his  practice  what  it 
will.  No  man  practises  so  well  as  he 
writes.  I  have,  all  my  life  long,  been 
lying  till  noon,  yet  I  tell  all  young 
men,  and  tell  them  with  great 
sincerity,  that  nobody  who  does  not 
rise  early  will  ever  do  any  good." ' 
Life,  V.  210, 

""  Ante,  ii.  233. 

^  Mrs.  Byron.  A7ite,  ii.  121,  n.  2. 
Lord  Byron  in  his  Epistle  to  Augusta 


compares  himself  to  his  grandfather, 
the  admiral  : — '  He  had  no  rest  at 
sea,  nor  I  on  shore.'  In  a  note  it  is 
stated  that  'Admiral  Byron  was  re- 
markable for  never  making  a  .voyage 
without  a  tempest.  He  was  known 
to  the  sailors  by  the  facetious  name 
of  "  Foul-weather  Jack."  '  Byron's 
Woj-ks,  ed.  1854,  iv.  202. 

*  Miss  Seward  says  : — '  I  cannot 
imagine  what  anonymous  poem  it 
could  be.'  Letters,  ii.  44.  I  think  it 
not  unlikely  that  it  was  Erasmus 
Darwin's  Loves  of  the  Plants,  which 
was  published  anonymously  in  1789. 
Darwin  states  in  the  Advertisement 
that  '  he  has  withheld  it  many  years 
from  the  press,  hoping  to  have 
rendered  it  more  worthy  the  accept- 
ance of  the  public'  He  had  lived  at 
Lichfield  till  some  time  in  this  year. 
C.  Darwin's  Life  of  Erasmus  Darwin, 
p.  27.     Edgeworth  says  that  parts  of 

If 


236 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1781. 


If  C y'  did  nothing  for  life  but  add  weight  to  its  burden, 

and  darkness  to  its  gloom,  he  is  kindest  to  those  from  whom  he 
is  furthest.  I  hope,  when  I  come,  not  to  advance  perhaps  your 
pleasures,  though  even  of  that  I  shall  be  unwilling  to  despair ; 
but  at  least  not  to  increase  your  inconveniencies,  which  would 
be  a  very  unsuitable  return  for  all  the  kindness  that  you  have 
shewn  to,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

749. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 


Dearest  Madam, 


Ashbourne,  Nov.  14,  1781. 


Here  is  Doctor  Taylor,  by  a  resolute  adherence  to  bread 
and  milk,  with  a  better  appearance  of  health  than  he  has  had  for 
a  long  time  past^;  and  here  am  I.  living  very  temperately,  but 
with  very  little  amendment.  But  the  balance  is  not  perhaps 
very  unequal :  he  has  no  pleasure  like  that  which  I  receive  from 
the  kind  importunity  with  which  you  invite  me  to  return.  There 
is  no  danger  of  very  long  delay.  There  is  nothing  in  this  part  of 
the  world  that  can  counteract  your  attraction. 

The  hurt  in  my  leg  has  grown  well  slowly,  according  to 
Hector's  prognostick "",  and  seems  now  to  be  almost  healed  :  but 
my  nights  are  very  restless,  and  the  days  are  therefore  heavy, 
and  I  have  not  your  conversation  to  cheer  them. 

I  am  willing  however  to  hear  that  there  is  happiness  in  the 


the  poem  were  shown  from  time 
to  time  to  his  intimate  acquaint- 
ance. Me7noirs  of  Edgeworth,  p. 
398.  Perhaps  it  was  Darwin  who 
sent   Johnson    the   pills.      Ante,    ii. 

233- 

Johnson  does  not  use  to  review  in 

the  modern  sense.  He  defines  it 
as  '  to  survey  ;  to  overlook ;  to 
examine.'  Neither  does  he  give  a 
definition  of  the  substantive  review, 
in  its  sense  of  '  a  periodical  with 
critical  examinations  of  books.' 

'  Crutchley.  Ante,\\.'2.\<^.,n.\.  Miss 
Burney,  writing  in  September  of  this 


year,  describes  him  as  a  man  of  '  a 
cold  and  splenetic  turn,'  and  says 
that  '  he  has  now  left  Streatham 
without  much  intention  to  frequently 
revisit  it.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
ii.  105.  Mrs.  Thrale,  writing  on  the 
same  day  as  Johnson,  says  that 
Crutchley  had  left  them  on  Monday 
(the  6th).     //;.  p.  109, 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  224. 

^  Dr.  Taylor  lived  on  a  milk  diet, 
which  gave  him  a  very  disagree- 
able complexion.'  Miss  Hawkins's 
Memoirs,  i.  164. 


"  Ante,  ii.  228. 


world, 


Aetat.  72.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


ni 


world,  and  delight  to  think  on  the  pleasure  diffused  among  the 
Burneys.  I  question  if  any  ship  upon  the  ocean  goes  out  attended 
with  more  good  wishes  than  that  which  carries  the  fate  of  Burney '. 
I  love  all  of  that  breed  whom  I  can  be  said  to  know,  and  one  or 
two  whom  I  hardly  know  I  love  upon  credit,  and  love  them  be- 
cause they  love  each  other.  Of  this  consanguineous  unanimity 
I  have  had  never  much  experience "";  but  it  appears  to  me  one 
of  the  great  lenitives  of  life  ;  but  it  has  this  deficience,  that  it  is 
never  found  when  distress  is  mutual — He  that  has  less  than 
enough  for  himself  has  nothing  to  spare,  and  as  every  man  feels 
only  his  own  necessities,  he  is  apt  to  think  those  of  others  less 


'  Mrs.  Thrale  had  written  to  John- 
son in  a  letter  she  dates  November 
2  : — '  Captain  Burney  has  got  a  fifty- 
gun  ship,  and  we  are  all  so  rejoiced.' 
Piozzi  Letters^  ii.  218.     Miss  Burney 
had  written  to  her  on  November  4, 
in  a  letter  assigned  in  her  Diary  to 
1780,  but  evidently  written  in  1781  : — 
'  We  had  just  done  tea  on  Friday, 
and  were  sitting  down  to  cards,  when 
we   were    surprised    by   an   express 
from    London,    and     it    brought    a 
"  Whereas  we  think   fit,"    from  the 
Admiralty,     to      appoint      Captain 
Burney    to    the    command    of    the 
Latona,  during  the   absence  of  the 
Hon.  Captain  Conway.     This  is  one 
of  the  best  frigates  in  the  navy,  of 
thirty-eight  guns.     Jem  was  almost 
frantic  with  ecstacy  of  joy;  he  sang, 
laughed,  drank  to  his  own  success, 
and   danced    about    the   room   with 
Miss  Kitty  till  he  put  her  quite  out  of 
breath.     His  hope  is  to  get  out  im- 
mediately, and   have    a   brush  with 
some    of  the   Dons,    Monsieurs,   or 
Mynheers.     [We  were  at   war  with 
Spain,    France,    Holland,    and    the 
United   States].'     Mme.    D'Arblay's 
Diary,  i.  431.    Mrs.  Thrale  in  a  letter 
dated  November  12  in  the  Diary  (ii. 
109)    quotes,    or    rather   misquotes, 
Johnson's   letter   of    November    14. 
Part  of  what  he  had  written  appears 


as  her  own  reflection.  What  with 
the  original  inaccuracy  of  Miss 
Burney  and  Mrs.  Thrale,  and  the 
superadded  inaccuracy  of  Mme, 
D'Arblay's  editor  and  of  Mrs.  Piozzi 
as  her  own  editor,  it  is  not  easy 
through  their  pages  to  track  the 
truth. 

For  Johnson's  love  of  the  Burneys 
see  ante,  ii.  145,  n.  i.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  1783,  talking  to  Miss  Burney 
of  the  Captain,  he  said: — '  I  should  be 
glad  to  see  him  if  he  were  not  your 
brother  ;  but  were  he  a  dog,  a  cat,  a 
rat,  a  frog,  and  belonged  to  you,  I 
must  needs  be  glad  to  see  him.' 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  233. 

^  '  I  who  have  no  sisters  nor 
brothers  look  with  some  degree  of 
innocent  envy  on  those  who  may  be 
said  to  be  born  to  friends.'  Life, 
i.  324.  See  also  post,  Letter  of  May 
I,  1783.  Nevertheless  he  had  not 
got  on  well  with  his  only  brother, 
who  complained  that '  he  had  scarcely 
used  him  with  common  civility.'  Life, 
i.  90,  n.  3.  Carlyle  on  February  3, 
1835,  wrote  to  Emerson,  who  had 
lately  lost  a  brother  :— '  Had  one  no 
brother  one  could  hardly  understand 
what  it  was  to  have  a  Friend  ;  they 
are  the  Friends  whom  Nature  chose 
for  us.'  Carres,  of  Carlyle  and 
Etnerson,  i.  37. 

pressing. 


238  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1781. 


pressing,  and  to  accuse  them  of  with-holding  what  in  truth  they 

cannot  give.     He  that  has  his  foot  firm  upon  dry  ground  may 

pluck  another  out  of  the  water ;  but  of  those  that  are  all  afloat, 

none  has  any  care  but  for  himself. 

We  do  not  hear  that  the  deanery  is  yet  given  away,  and,  though 

nothing  is  said,  I  believe  much  is  still  thought  about  it  ^     Hope 

travels  through ^ 

I  am,  dearest  of  all  dear  ladies. 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

750. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dear  Madam,  Ashbourne,  Nov.  24,  1 78 1. 

I  shall  leave  this  place  about  the  beginning  of  next  week, 
and  shall  leave  every  place  as  fast  as  I  decently  can,  till  I  get 
back  to  you,  whose  kindness  is  one  of  my  great  comforts.  I  am 
not  well,  but  have  a  mind  every  now  and  then  to  think  myself 
better,  and  I  now  hope  to  be  better  under  your  care. 

It  was  time  to  send  Kam  to  another  master ;  but  I  am  glad 
that  before  he  went  he  beat  Hector,  for  he  has  really  the  appear- 
ance of  a  superior  species  to  an  animal  whose  whole  power  is 
in  his  legs,  and  that  against  the  most  defenceless  of  all  the  in- 
habitants of  the  earth. 

Dr.  Taylor  really  grows  w^elL  and  directs  his  complirpents  to 
be  sent.     I  hope  Mr.  Perkins  will  be  well  too  ^. 

But  why  do  you  tell  me  nothing  of  your  own  health  ?  Perhaps 
since  the  fatal  pinch  of  snufif  I  may  have  no  care  about  it.  I  am 
glad  that  you  have  returned  to  your  meat,  for  I  never  expected 
that  abstinence  would  do  you  good. 

Piozzi,  I  find,  is  coming  in  spite  of  Miss  Harriet's  prediction, 
or  second  sight,  and  when  he  comes  and  /  come,  you  will  have 
two   about  you   that   love  you  ;  and   I  question  if  either  of  us 

'  Ante,  i.  141.  ^  '  Hope  travels  through,  nor  quits 

-  See    ante,   ii.   108,   for   Taylor's  us  when  we  die.' 

longings  for  another  Deanery.     The  POPE.     Essay  on  Man,  ii.  273. 

Deanery  of  Lincoln  was  filled  up  on  *  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  226. 

December  22.  Ann.  Reg.,  1781,  i.  209.  ^  Sec  Life,  iv.  153. 

heartily 


Aetat.  72.] 


To  Edmund  Allen. 


239 


heartily  care  how  i&\N  more  you  have '.  But  how  many  soever 
they  may  be,  I  hope  you  keep  your  kindness  for  me,  and  I  have 
a  great  mind  to  have  Queeney's  kindness  too. 

Frank's  wife^  has  brought  him  a  wench  ;  but  I  cannot  yet  get 
intelh'gence  of  her  colour,  and  therefore  have  never  told  him  how 
much  depends  upon  it. 

The  weather  here  is  chill,  and  the  air  damp.  I  have  been  only 
once  at  the  waterfall,  which  I  found  doing  as  it  used  to  do,  and 
came  away.     I  had  not  you  nor  Queeney  with  me. 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

751. 

To  Edmund  Allen  ^ 
Bolt  Court. 
Dear   Sir,  Ashbourne,  Nov.  26,  1781. 

I  am  weary  enough  of  the  country  to  think  of  Bolt  Court, 
and  purpose  to  leave  Ashbourne,  where  I  now  am,  in  a  day  or 
two,  and  to  make  my  way  through  Lichfield,  Birmingham,  and 
Oxford,  with  what  expedition  I  decently  can,  and  then  we  will 
have  a  row''^  and  a  dinner,  and  now  and  then  a  dish  of  tea 
together. 


'  Mrs.  Thrale  had  written  : — '  In- 
stead of  trying  the  Sortes  Virgiliance 
[a?tte,  ii.  169,  n.  a]  for  our  absent 
friends,  we  agreed  after  dinner  to-day 
to  ask  little  Harriet  what  they  were 
doing  now  who  used  to  be  our  common 
guests  at  Streatham.  "  Dr.  Johnson  " 
(says  she)  "  is  very  rich  and  wise.  Sir 
Philip  is  drown'd  in  the  water — and 
Mr.  Piozzi  is  very  sick  and  lame, 
poor  man  !  "  What  a  curious  way  of 
deciding  !  all  in  her  little  soft  voice.' 
Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  217.  Baretti  has 
the  following  note  on  the  passage  in 

Johnson's  letter: — '  Impudent  b ! 

How  could  she  venture  upon  forging 
this  paragraph !  Johnson  to  put 
himself  abreast  with  such  an  ignorant 
dog  as  Piozzi  ! ' 

^  The  wife  of  his  black  servant, 
Francis  Barber.     Life,  i.  237. 


^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  699.  '  Communicated  to 
me  by  Mr.  P.  Cunningham,'  writes  Mr. 
Croker, '  who  found  also  in  a  pocket- 
book  of  Allen's,  memoranda  of  John- 
son's departure  and  return.  "  October 
15,  1 78 1,  Dr.  Johnso7i  set  out  about 
9  A.M.  to  Oxford,  Lichfield,  and  Ash- 
bourne.'''  ^'■December  11,  1781,  Dr. 
Jolittson  returned  from  Derbyshire.^'' ' 

Edmund  Allen  was  Johnson's  land- 
lord and  next  neighbour  in  Bolt 
Court.     Life,  iii.  141. 

''  I  do  not  understand  what  this 
means.  Johnson  defines  the  sub- 
stantive row  as  '  a  rank  or  file  ;  a 
number  of  things  ranged  in  a  line.' 
He  does  not  recognise  the  sense  of 
'  an  excursion  in  a  rowing-boat.' 
Neither  was  it  likely  that  in  his 
weak   health    he   would   go   on    the 

I  doubt 


240  To  Mrs.  Tkrale,  [a.d.  17 si. 

I  doubt  not  but  you  have  been  so  kind  as  to  send  the  oysters 
to  Lichfield,  and  I  now  beg  that  you  will  let  Mrs.  Desmoulins 
have  a  guinea  on  my  account. 

My  health  has  been  but  indifferent,  much  of  the  time  I  have 
been  out,  and  my  journey  has  not  supplied  much  entertainment. 
I  shall  be  at  Lichfield,  I  suppose,  long  enough  to  receive  a 
letter,  and   I  desire  Mrs.  Desmoulins  to  write  immediately  what 
she  knows.     I  wish  to  be  told  about  Frank's  wife  and  child. 

I  am.  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


752. 

To  Mrs.  THRALE^ 
Dear  Madam,  Lichfield,  Dec.  3,  1781. 

I  am  now  come  back  to  Lichfield,  where  I  do  not  intend  to 

stay  long  enough  to  receive  another  letter.     I  have  little  to  do 

here  but  to  take  leave  of  Mrs.  Aston.     I  hope  not  the  last  leave. 

But  Christians  may  [say]  with  more  confidence  than  Sophonisba 

Avremo  tosto  lungo  lungo  spazio 

Per  stare  assieme,  et  sara  forse  eterno  ^. 

My  time  past  heavily  at  Ashbourne,  yet  I  could  not  easily  get 
away,  though  Taylor,  I  sincerely  think,  was  glad  to  see  me  go. 
I  have  now  learned  the  inconveniences  of  a  winter  campaign  ; 
but  I  hope  home  will  make  amends  for  all  my  foolish  sufferings. 

I  do  not  like  poor  '  Burney's  vicarious  captainship  ^'  Surely 
the  tale  of  Tantalus  was  made  for  him.  Surely  he  will  be  in 
time  a  captain  like  another  captain,  of  a  ship  like  another  ship. 

You  have  got  Piozzi  again,  notwithstanding  pretty  Harriet's 
dire  denunciations'*.    The  Italian  translation  which  he  has  brought, 

river  so  late  in  the  year.     I  .suspect  Di    star   insieme,   e    sari    forse 

an  error  in  the  copyist.  eterno.' 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  228.  Sofinisba,    Tragedia   di   G. 

"Ma  tu  pur  cerca  mantenerti  in  G.     Trissino,     ed.     1785, 

vita  ;  p.  93. 

Che  tosto  aremo  un  lungo  lungo  ^  Ante,  ii.  237,  n.  i. 

spazio  ''  A)ite,  ii.  239,  n.  i. 

you 


Aetat.  72.]  7i?  Johl     Nukols.  2\\ 

you  will  find  no  great  accession  to  your  library,  for  the  writer 

seems  to  understand  very  little  English.    When  we  meet  we  can 

compare   some   passages.     Pray  contrive   a   multitude   of  good 

things  for  us  to  do  when  we  meet.     Something  that  may  hold 

all  together;  though  if  any  thing  makes  me  love  you  more,  it  is 

going  from  you. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

763. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dear   Madam,  Birmingham,  Dec.  8,  1781. 

I  am  come  to  this  place  on  my  way  to  London  and  to 
Streatham.  I  hope  to  be  in  London  on  Tuesday  or  Wednesday, 
and  at  Streatham  on  Thursday,  by  your  kind  conveyance.  I 
shall  have  nothing  to  relate  either  wonderful  or  delightful.  But 
remember  that  you  sent  me  away,  and  turned  me  out  into  the 
world,  and  you  must  take  the  chance  of  finding  me  better  or 
worse.  This  you  may  know  at  present,  that  my  affection  for  you 
is  not  diminished,  and  my  expectation  from  you  is  encreased. 
Do  not  neglect  me,  nor  relinquish  me  ~.  Nobody  will  ever  love 
you  better  or  honour  you  more  than. 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

754. 

To  John  Nichols  ^. 

Mr.  Johnson  being  much  out  of  order  sent  in  search  of  the 
book,  but  it  is  not  found.  He  will,  if  he  is  better,  look  him- 
self diligently  to-morrow  He  thanks  Mr.  Nichols  for  all  his 
favours. 


To  Mr.  Nicols. 


Dr.  [December]  26,  [1781]. 


'  Piozsi  Letters,  ii.  230.  afifection  for  him  may  lessen. 

""  Johnson's  letters  henceforth  often  ^  First    published    in  the    Gentle- 

contain  expressions  of  fear  that  her      man's  Magazine  for  1 785,  page  1 1. 
VOL.  II.  R  To 


242  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1782. 


755. 

To  Mauritius  Lowe.  t^^j^  j   j»g^ 

In  one  of  Messrs.  Sotheby's  Auction  Catalogues,  the  reference  to 
which  I  have  mislaid,  Lot  156  is  a  Letter  of  Johnson  to  Mr.  Lowe 
dated  Jan.  i,  1782. 

756. 

To    J.\MES    BOSWELL. 

[London],  January  5,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  136. 

757. 
To  Dr.  L.wvRENCE. 
[London],  January  17,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  137. 

758. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dearest  Lady,  January  28, 1782. 

I  was  blooded  on  Saturday ;  I  think,  not  copiously  enough, 

but  the  Doctor  would    permit   no  more.     I  have  however  his 

consent  to  bleed  again  to-day.     Since  I  left  you  I  have  eaten 

very  little,  on  Friday  chiefly  broath,  on  Saturday  nothing  but 

some  bread  in  the  morning,  on  Sunday  nothing  but  some  bread 

and  three  roasted  apples.     I  try  to  get  well  and  wish  to  see  you  ; 

but  if  I  came,  I  should  only  cough  and  cough.     Mr.  Steevens% 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  250.  which  has  for  some  time  distressed 

Mrs.  Piozzi  dates  this  letter  June  me.'     Life,  iv.   140.     On   July  8  he 

28,  1 781,  but  inserts  it  among  those  wrote  to  Dr.  Taylor  : — '  I  came  back 

of  June  1782.     It  is  clear  that  y//«i' is  from  Oxford  in  ten  days,  and  was 

a  mistake  for  fanuary,  and  178 1  for  almost  restored  to  health.  .  .  .      My 

1782.     Johnson  mentions  the  consent  cough  is  gone.'     He  went  to  O.xford 

of  his  Doctor 'to  bleed  again  '  on  the  in  June.    /*^j-/,  Letter  of  June  8.    On 

day  on  which   he  wrote.     He  adds  June  28,  therefore,  he  was  in  tolerable 

also: — 'We  are  all  three  sick,  and  health.     His  sick  companions  were 

poor  Levet   is  gone.'     He  wrote  to  Mrs.  Williams  and  Mrs.  Desmoulins. 

Mrs.  Strahan  on  February  4,  1782  :—  =  Mr.       Steevens      was      George 

*  Of  the  four  inmates  [of  my  house]  Steevens  who  helped  him  in  a  new 

one    has    been    suddenly   snatched  edition  of  his  Shakespeare.     Life,  ii. 

away;    two   are  oppressed    by  very  115.      'He    passed,'    says    Boswell, 

afflictive  and  dangerous  illness  ;  and  '  many  a  social  hour  with  Dr.  John- 

I  tried  yesterday  to  gain  some  relief  son  during  their  long  acquaintance.' 

by  a  third  bleeding  from  a  disorder  Jh.  iv.  324. 

who 


Aetat.  72.]  To  Rccorder  Beatniffe.  24 


who  is  with  me,  says  that  my  hearing  is  returned.     We  are  here 

all  three  sick,  and  poor  Levet  is  gone. 

Do  not  add  to  my  other  distresses  any  diminution  of  kindness 

for,  -_    , 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

759. 

To  Mrs.  Strahan. 
[London],  February  4,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  140. 

760. 

To  Recorder  Beatniffe'. 

Sir,  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  February  14,  1782. 

Robert  Levett,  with  whom  I  have  been  connected  by  a 
friendship  of  many  years,  died  lately  at  my  house.  His  death 
was  sudden,  and  no  will  has  yet  been  found  ;  I  therefore  gave 
notice  of  his  death  in  the  papers,  that  an  heir,  if  he  has  any,  may 
appear.  He  has  left  very  little  ;  but  of  that  little  his  brother 
is  doubtless  heir,  and  your  friend  may  be  perhaps  his  brother. 
I  have  had  another  application  from  one  who  calls  himself  his 
brother ;  and  I  suppose  it  is  fit  that  the  claimant  should  give 
some  proofs  of  his  relation.  I  would  gladly  know,  from  the 
gentleman  that  thinks  himself  R.  Levett's  brother. 

In  what  year,  and  in  what  parish,  R.  Levett  was  born  ? 

Where  or  how  was  he  educated  ? 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-  very  low  condition.'     lb.  p.  143. 

well,  page  701.  Hawkins  says  that  Johnson  learnt, 

Levett     had     died     suddenly    on  in  reply  to  his  enquiries,  that  Levett 

January  17  of  this  year.     'He  was  an  was   born    at   Kirk   Ella   about  five 

old    and    faithful    friend,'     Johnson  miles  from  Hull.     He  had  acquired 

recorded    in    his    Dia?y.     *  I     have  some  knowledge  of  Latin  and  had  a 

known   him   from  about  '46.'     Life,  propensity   to    learning.       He    had 

iv.  137.     He  wrote  to  Lucy  Porter  on  tried  more  than  one  calling,  and  had 

March  19  : — '  I  have  by  advertising  dabbled  in  physic.     He  had  been  in 

found  poor  Mr.  Levett's  brothers  in  France  and  Italy,  and  had  attended 

Yorkshire,  who  will  take  the  little  he  the   hospitals   in    Paris.     Hawkins's 

has  left ;  it  is  but  little,  yet  it  will  be  Johnson,  p.  396.     See  Life,  i.  243, 

welcome,  for  I   believe  they  are   of  n.  3,  for  another  account. 

R  2  What 


244 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1782. 


What  was  his  early  course  of  life  ? 

What  were  the  marks  of  his  person  ;  his  stature  ;  the  colour  of 
his  eyes '  ? 

Was  he  marked  by  the  small-pox  ? 

Had  he  any  impediment  in  his  speech  ? 

What  relations  had  he,  and  how  many  are  now  living? 

His  answer  to  these  questions  will  show  whether  he 
knew  him ;  and  he  may  then  proceed  to  show  that  he  is  his 
brother. 

He  may  be  sure,  that  nothing  shall  be  hastily  wasted  or  re- 
moved. I  have  not  looked  into  his  boxes,  but  transferred  that 
business  to  a  gentleman  in  the  neighbourhood,  of  character  above 
suspicion. 

Sam:  Johnson. 

To  Mr.  Beatnifife,  Recorder  of  Hull. 


761. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dearest  Lady,  [Bolt  Court],  Feb.  i6, 1782. 

I  am  better,  but  not  yet  well ;  but  hope  springs  eternal  ^. 
■As  soon  as  I  can  think  myself  not  troublesome,  you  may  be 


sure  of  seeing  me,  for  such  a  place  to  visit  nobody  ever  had. 

Dearest  Madam,  do  not  think  me  worse  than  I  am  ;  be  sure  at 

least,  that  whatever  happens  to  me,  I  am  with  all  the  regard 

that  admiration    of  excellence  and    gratitude  for  kindness  can 

excite,  ,,    , 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  '  His  person  was  middle-sized 
and  thin  ;  his  visage  swarthy,  adust, 
and  corrugated.  When  in  dishabille 
he  might  have  been  mistaken  for  an 
alchemist,  whose  complexion  had 
been  hurt  by  the  fumes  of  the  crucible, 
and  whose  clothes  had  suffered  from 
the  sparks  of  the  furnace.'  Gctitlc- 
man's l\fagcisine,\j%^,-p.  102.    Haw- 


kins adds  '  a  dictum  of  Johnson  re- 
specting him— that  his  external  ap- 
pearance  and  behaviour  were  such 
that  he  disgusted  the  rich  and  terrified 
the  poor.'  W'^xw'km?,'' s  Johnso?i,  p.  400. 
"  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  231. 
^  '  Hope    springs    eternal    in   the 
human  breast.' 

Essay  on  Man,  i.  95. 

To 


Aetat.  72.]  To  Mvs.   Tkrale.  245 


762. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dear  Madam,  Feb.  17, 1782. 

Sure  such  letters  would  make  any  man  well^.     I  will  let 

them  have  their  full  operation  upon  me ;  but  while  I  write  I  am 

not  without  a  cough.    I  can  however  keep  it  quiet  by  diacodium, 

and  am  in  hope  that  with  all  other  disturbances  it  will  go  away, 

and  permit  me  to  enjoy  the  happiness  of  being, 

Madam,  your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

763. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 

Dearest  Madam,  Bolt-court,  Feb.  21, 1782. 

I  certainly  grow  better.  I  lay  this  morning  with  such 
success,  that  I  called  before  I  rose  for  dry  linen.  I  believe  I 
have  had  a  crisis. 

Last  night  called  Sir  Richard  Jebb"* ;  and  many  people  call  or 
send  :  I  am  not  neglected  nor  forgotten.  But  let  me  be  always 
sure  of  your  kindness.  I  hope  to  try  again  this  week  whether 
your  house  is  yet  so  cold,  for  to  be  away  from  you,  if  I  did  not 
think  our  separation  likely  to  be  short,  how  could  I  endure  ? 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  235.  complains    of  a    general    gravedo" 

^  Mrs.  Piozzi  inserts  a  letter  of  hers  cries   the  Doctor;  "but  he  speaks 

to  him  dated  February  16  in  which  too  good  Latin  for  us."     "  Do  you 

she  says  : — '  I  told  Dr.  Lawrence  that  take  care,  at  least,  that  it  does  not 

the  Gravedo  [ante,  ii.  229,  n.  5]    of  increase  long,"  quoth  L     (The  word 

which  you  complain  should  be  kept  gravedo   makes  gravedtnis,  and   is 

from  mcreasitig  lofig  in  this  case,  and  therefore  said  to  increase  long  in  the 

as  he  is  as  good  a  grammarian  as  he  genitive  case.)    I  thought  this  a  good, 

is  a  physician  I  hope  he  will  take  the  stupid,  scholarlike  pun,  and  Johnson 

hint.'     Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  233.     She  seemed   to   like  that  Lawrence  was 

wrote    to    Miss    Burney   this    same  pleased.'     Mme.    D'Arblay's   Diary, 

month    that    she     had     found    Dr.  ii.  123.     Johnson,  it  is  clear,  heard 

Lawrence  with  Dr.  Johnson  : — *  I  put  the   pun  ;    it  seems   likely  therefore 

my  nose  into  the  old  man's  wig  [Dr.  that  her  letter  to  him  was  a  fabrica- 

Lawrence's],  and   shouted;  but  got  tion,  for  she  would  not  have  told  him 

none  except  melancholy  answers — so  what  he  had  so  lately  heard  from  her. 

melancholy    that    I    was    forced    to  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  n.  22,S- 

crack  jokes  for  fear  of  crying.     "  He  *  The  physician.     Ante,  ii.  148, 

You 


246 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1782. 


You  are  a  dear  dear  lady,  and  your  kind  attention  is  a  great  part 

of  what  life  affords  to,  , ,    , 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

764. 

To  Edmond  Malone. 
[London],  February  27,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  141. 

765. 
To  Mrs.  Porter. 
London,  March  2,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  142. 

766. 

To  Edmond  Malone. 

[London],  March  7,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  141. 
In  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Co.'s  Auction  Catalogue  of  May  10,  1875, 
the  date  is  given  as  March  2.     The  Letter  (Lot  98)  was  sold  for  ;^6  bs. 

767. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dearest  of  all  dear  Ladies,  March  14, 1782. 

That  Povilleri   should  write  these  verses  is  impossible.     I 
am  angry  at  Sastres  ^. 

Seven  ounces !  Why  I  sent  a  letter  to  Dr.  Lawrence,  who  is 
ten  times  more  timorsome  than  is  your  Jebb,  and  he  came  and 
stood  by  while  one  vein  was  opened  with  too  small  an  orifice, 
and  bled  eight  ounces  and  stopped.  Then  another  vein  was 
opened,  which  ran  eight  more.  And  here  am  I  sixteen  ounces 
lighter,  for  I  have  had  no  dinner  ^ 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  236. 

"^  An  Italian  master.  See  post. 
Letter  of  August  21,  1784. 

^  Johnson  recorded  in  his  Diary 
on  March  18  :— 'Having  been  from 
the  middle  of  January  distressed  by 
a  cold  which  made  my  respiration 
very  laborious,  and  from  which  I 
was    but     little     relieved    by    being 


blooded  three  times  ;  having  tried  to 
ease  the  oppression  of  my  breast  by 
frequent  opiates,  which  kept  me 
waking  in  the  night  and  drowsy  the 
next  day,  and  subjected  me  to  the 
tyranny  of  vain  imaginations  ;  having 
to  all  this  added  frequent  catharticks, 
sometimes  with  mercurj',  I  at  last 
persuaded  Dr.  Lawrence  on  Thurs- 

I  think 


Aetat.  72.]  To  the  Revereud  Dr.   Taylor.  247 

I  think  the  loss  of  blood  has  done  no  harm  ;  whether  it  has 

done  good,  time  will  tell.     I  am  glad  that  I  do  not  sink  without 

resistance '.  ^  1        txx    1 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

768. 

To  Mrs.  Porter. 
Bolt  Court,  March  19,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  142. 

769. 

To  Mrs.  Aston. 

llondon,  March  19,  1782. 
On  March  19,  Johnson  recorded  in  his  Diary; — 'I  wrote  to  Aston,' 
Prayers  and  Meditations,  page  206. 

770. 

To  Captain  Langton. 
Bolt  Court,  March  20,  1782.  .  Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  145. 

771. 

To  Edmund  Hector. 
London,  March  21,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  146. 

772. 

To  Edmund  Hector. 
Undated,     Published  in  \}(\q.  Life,  iv.  147. 

773. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor. 

London,  March  22,  1782. 
On  March  22  of  this  year,  Johnson  recorded  in  his  Diary  : — *  I  wrote 
to  Taylor  about  the  pot.'     Prayers  and  Meditations,  page  208, 
For  the  silver  coffee-pot  ^^o. post,  p.  262. 

day,  March  14,  to  let  me  bleed  more  word  in  the  Streatham  set.    Johnson 

copiously.  Sixteen  ounces  were  taken  on  his  death-bed  reproached  Heber- 

away,  and  from  that  time  my  breath  den  with  being  '  timidorum  timidis- 

has  been  free,  and  my  breast  easy.'  simus.'    Life,  iv.  399,  n.  6. 

Pr.  and  Med.,  p.  203.  '  See  ante,  i.  378,  n.  3. 
Ttmorsome  was  perhaps  a  catch- 

To 


248 


To  Mrs.   Gastrell  and  Mrs.    Aston,    [a.d.1782. 


774. 

To  William  Gerard  Hamilton. 

March  22,  1782. 

On  March  22,  1782,  Johnson  recorded  in  his  Diary: — 'I  wrote  to 
Hamilton  about  the  Foedera.'     Prayers  and  Meditations,  page  208. 
The  Fcedera  was,  no  doubt,  Rymer"s  work. 

775. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  March  28,  1782.     PubHshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  148. 


776. 

To  Mrs.  Gastrell  and  Mrs.  Aston  '. 

Dearest  Ladies, 

The  tenderness  expressed  in  your  kind  letter  makes  me 
think  it  necessary  to  tell  you  that  they  who  are  pleased  to  wish 
me  well,  need  not  be  any  longer  particularly  solicitous  about 
me.  I  prevailed  on  my  Physician  to  bleed  me  very  copiously, 
almost  against  his  inclination.  However  he  kept  his  finger  on 
the  pulse  of  the  other  hand,  and,  finding  that  I  bore  it  well,  let 
the  vein  run  on.  From  that  time  I  have  mended,  and  hope  I 
am  now  well.  I  went  yesterday  to  Church  without  inconvenience  % 
and  hope  to  go  tomorrow. 

Here  are  great  changes  in  the  great  world,  but  I  cannot  tell 
you  more  than  you  will  find  in  the  papers.    The  Men  are  got  in. 


'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well, page  706.  Corrected  by  me 
from  the  original  in  Pembroke  Col- 
lege Library. 

''  In  Johnson's  Diary  there  are 
the  following  entries  at  this  date  :  - 
'  March  28,  Thursday.  The  weather 
which  now  begins  to  be  warm  gives 
me  great  help.  I  have  hardly  been 
at  church  this  year ;  certainly  not 
since  the  15th  of  January.  My  cough 
and  difficulty  of  breathing  would  not 
permit  it.  This  is  the  day  on  which 
in  1752  dear  Tetty  died.  I  have 
now  uttered  a  prayer  of  repentance 
and  contrition  ;  perhaps  Tetty  knows 


that  I  prayed  for  her.  Perhaps  Tetty 
is  now  praying  for  me.  God  help 
me.  .  .  .  We  were  married  almost 
seventeen  years,  and  have  now  been 
parted  thirty.  ...  29,  Good  Friday. 
After  a  night  of  great  disturbance 
and  solicitude,  such  as  I  do  not  re- 
member, I  rose,  drank  tea,  but  with- 
out eating,  and  went  to  church.  I 
was  very  composed. ...  A  kind  letter 
from  Gastrel  [Mrs.  Gastrell].'  During 
the  whole  of  the  day  he  ate  nothing 
but  some  buns  at  tea.  The  next  day 
he  records  : — '  I  was  faint ;  dined  on 
herrings  and  potatoes,'  Pr.  and 
Med.,  p.  209. 

whom 


Aetat.  72.] 


To  Miss  Reynolds. 


249 


whom  I  have  endeavoured  to  keep  out,  but  I  hope  they  will  do 
better  than  their  predecessors  ;  it  will  not  be  easy  to  do  worse  '. 

Spring  seems  now  to  approach,  and  I  feel  its  benefit,  which  I 
hope  will  extend  to  dear  Mrs.  Aston. 

When  Dr.  Falconer  ^  saw  me,  I  was  at  home  only  by  accident, 
for  I  lived  much  with  Mrs.  Thrale  and  had  all  the  care  from  her 
that  she  could  take,  or  that  could  be  taken.  But  I  have  never 
been  ill  enough  to  want  attendance,  my  disorder  has  been  rather 
tedious  than  violent,  rather  irksome  than  painful.  He  needed 
not  have  made  such  a  tragical  representation. 

I  am  now  well  enough  to  flatter  myself  with   some  hope  of 

pleasure  from  the  Summer.    How  happy  would  it  be  if  we  could 

see  one  another,  and  be  all  tolerably  well.     Let  us  pray  for  one 

another.  _  ,  t     i- 

I  am,  dearest  Ladies, 

Your  most  obliged,  and 

most  humble  Servant, 

March  30,  1782.  SaM:J0HNS0N. 

London,  Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street. 


777. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^ 
Dearest  Madam,  April  8, 1782. 

Your  work'*  is  full  of  very  penetrating  meditation,  and  very 
forcible  sentiments.  I  read  it  with  a  full  perception  of  the  sub- 
lime, with  wonder  and  terror ;  but  I  cannot  think  of  any  profit 
from  it ;  it  seems  not  born  to  be  popular. 

Your  system  of  the  mental  fabric  is  exceedingly  obscure,  and, 
without  more  attention  than  will  be  willingly  bestowed,  is  unin- 
telligible. The  plans  of  Burnaby  ^  will  be  more  safely^  understood, 


'  On  March  20  Johnson  recorded  : 
— 'The  Ministry  is  dissolved.  I 
prayed  with  Francis  and  gave 
thanks.'  Pr.  and  Med.,  p.  207.  On 
the  afternoon  of  that  day  Lord  North 
announced  in  the  House  of  Commons 
'  that  his  Majesty's  Ministers  were  no 
more.'  Pari.  Hist,  xxii  121 5.  The 
Rockingham  Ministry  took  their  place. 

^  Miss    Seward    mentions    a   Dr. 


Falconer  of  Bath.  Seward's  Letters, 
V.  222. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  706. 

^  For  other  works  which  Miss 
Reynolds  had  submitted  to  Johnson, 
see  ante,  pp.  180,  223. 

^  Burnaby,  I  conjecture,  was  a 
character  in  the  book. 

'  Perhaps  Johnson  wrote  easily. 

and 


250 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1782. 


and   are   often   charming-.     I   was 


delighted 


with    the  different 


bounty  of  different  ages. 

I  would  make  it  produce  something  if  I  could,  but  I  have 

indeed  no  hope.     If  a  bookseller  would  buy  it  at  all,  as  it  must 

be  published  without  a  name,  he  would  give  nothing  for  it  worth 

your  acceptance. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

778. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'.      .     .,  r  o  i 

Madam,  Apni  [24  or  25, 1782]. 

I  have  been  very  much  out  of  order  since  you  sent  me  away  ; 

but  why  should  1  tell  you,  who  do  not  care,  nor  desire  to  know? 

I  dined  with  Mr.  Paradise  on  Monday,  with  the  Bishop  of  St. 

Asaph  yesterday,  with  the  Bishop  of  Chester  ^  I   dine  to-day, 

and  with  the  Academy  on  Saturday  ^,  with  Mr.  Hoole  on  Monday, 

and  with  Mrs.  Garrick  on  Thursday  the  2d  of  May  "*,  and  then — 

what  care  you  ?  wJiat  tJiejt  ? 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  237. 

Mrs.  Piozzi  gives  no  other  date  to 
this  letter  than  April.  The  Academy 
dinner  was  on  Saturday,  April  27. 
Johnson  did  not  write  on  Friday,  or 
he  would  have  said : — '  I  dine  with 
the  Academy  to-morrow.'  Neither 
did  he  write  on  Tuesday,  as  he  was 
going,  he  said,  on  the  day  he  wrote 
to  dine  out  for  the  third  time  that 
week;  the  first  time  was  Monday. 
He  wrote  therefore  either  on  Wednes- 
day the  24th  or  Thursday  the  25th. 

-■  The  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph  was 
Dr.  .Shipley,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Chester  Dr.  Porteus.  Hannah  More 
was  at  the  Bishop  of  Chester's  din- 
ner. '  Johnson  was  there,'  she  writes, 
'and  the  Bishop  was  very  desirous 
to  draw  him  out,  as  he  wished  to 
show  him  off  to  some  of  the  company 
who  had  never  seen  him.  He  begged 
me  to  sit  next  him  at  dinner,  and  to 
devote  myself  to  making  him  talk. 
To  this  end  I  consented  to  talk  more 


than  became  me,  and  our  stratagem 
succeeded.  .  .  .  He  was  very  good- 
humoured  and  gay.  One  of  the 
company  happened  to  say  a  word 
about  poetry.  "  Hush,  hush,"  said 
he,  "  it  is  dangerous  to  say  a  word 
of  poetry  before  her ;  it  is  talking  of 
the  art  of  war  before  Hannibal." 
He  continued  his  jokes,  and  lamented 
that  I  had  not  married  Chatterton, 
that  posterity  might  have  seen  a  pro- 
pagation of  poets.'  Hannah  More's 
Me7noirs,  i.  251. 

^  In  the  Exhibition  of  this  year 
there  were  fifteen  of  Sir  Joshua's 
pictures.  In  the  Academy  Archives 
there  is  the  following  entry  about 
the  dinner  this  year  : — '  That  Mr. 
Fitz-Walter  dress  the  dinner  at  the 
Academy  for  ^42.  The  wines  to  be 
claret,  Madeira,  port  and  Caracavalla 
(Calcavella).'  Leslie  and  Taylor's 
Reynolds,  ii.  361. 

*  '  I  have  found,'  he  had  written  a 
few  weeks  earlier,  'the  world  willing 

The 


Aetat.  72.] 


To  Mrs.   Tlirale. 


251 


The  news  run,  that  we  have  taken  seventeen  French  trans- 
ports 1  —  that  Langton's  lady  is  lying  down  with  her  eighth 
child,  all  alive — and  Mrs.  Carter's  Miss  Sharpe  is  going  to 
marry  a  schoolmaster  sixty-two  years  old  -. 

Do  not  let  Mr.  Piozzi  nor  any  body  else  put  me  quite  out  of 
your  head  ^  and  do  not  think  that  any  body  will  love  you  like 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 


779. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale*. 
Dearest  Madam,  April  30, 1782. 

I  have  had  a  fresh  cold  and  been  very  poorly  \     But  I  was 

yesterday  at  Mr.  Hoole's,  where  were  Miss  Reynolds  and  many 

others.     I  am  going  to  the  club. 

Since  Mrs.   Garrick's  invitation    I  have  a   letter  from    Miss 

Moore  ^,  to  engage  me  for  the  evening.     I  have  an  appointment 


enough  to  caress  me,  if  my  health 
had  invited  me  to  be  in  much  com- 
pany.'   Life,  iv.  147. 

'  '  April  27.  Letters  from  Admiral 
Barrington  confirm  the  capture  of 
the  Pegasus,  and  four  of  the  French 
transports.'    Ann.  Reg.  1782,  i.  206. 

"  Mrs.  Carter  had  two  or  three 
times  '  made  long  journeys  with  Miss 
Sharpe,  a  single  lady  of  large  fortune, 
who  afterwards  married  the  Rev. 
Osmund  Beauvoir,  D.D.'  Mrs.  Car- 
ter's Memoirs,  i.  457.  Mrs.  Thrale 
wrote  to  Miss  Burney  on  April  24  : — 
'  Miss  Sharp  will  marry  the  old 
schoolmaster  too  !  Did  you  ever  hear 
Baretti  talk  of  the  Tromba  Marino 
man  that  the  girl  in  Venice  would 
absolutely  marry  for  the  comfort  of 
combing  his  beard  ? '  Mme.  D'Ar- 
blay's  Diary,  ii.  138. 

^  '  These  words  again  are  of  her 
own  fabrication.'    Baretti. 

*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  238. 

^  Johnson  wrote  to  Lawrence  on 
the    next : — *  Novum    frigus,    nova 


tussis,  7iova  spirandi  diffi-cultas, 
novani  sanguinis  niissionem  snadent, 
qua/n  iame?i  tei7tconsulio  nolini  fieri.^ 
Life,  iv.  143.  The  cold  weather  had 
returned.  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on 
May  5  : — '  It  is  the  depth  of  winter. 
Never  was  there  such  a  spring ! 
After  deluges  of  rain  we  have  had 
an  east  wind  that  has  half-starved 
London,  as  a  fleet  of  colliers  cannot 
get  in.  Coals  were  sold  yesterday 
at  seven  guineas  a  chaldron  ;  nor  is 
there  an  entire  leaf  yet  on  any  tree.' 
Letters,  viii.  216.  The  chaldron,  ac- 
cording to  Johnson's  Dictionary, 
should  weigh  2000  pounds  —  240 
pounds  less  than  a  ton.  Horace 
Walpole's  numbers,  as  he  would  have 
himself  allowed,  are  always  to  be 
received  with  doubt. 

*  Hannah  More,  who  when  she 
visited  London,  generally  lived  at 
the  Garricks'.  She  has  no  record  of 
this  evening,  though  very  probably 
it  was  then  that  Johnson  told  her 
'  he    hated    to    hear    people   whine 

to 


252 


To  Mrs.   Tkrale. 


[A.D.  1782. 


to  Miss  Monkton  ',  and  another  with  Lady  Sheffield  at  Mrs. 
Way's  ^ 

Two  days  ago  Mr.  Cumberland  had  his  third  night,  which, 
after  all  expences,  put  into  his  own  pocket  five  pounds.  He  has 
lost  his  plume  ^ 

Mrs.  S refused  to  sing,  at  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire's 

request,  a  song  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  "*.  They  pay  for  the 
^  neither  principal  nor  interest ;  and  poor  Garrick's  funeral 


about  metaphysical  distresses,  when 
there  was  so  much  want  and  hunger 
in  the  world.  I  told  him,'  she  con- 
tinues, '  I  supposed  then  he  never 
wept  at  any  tragedy  but  Jane  S/iorc, 
who  had  died  for  want  of  a  loaf. 
He  called  me  a  saucy  girl  [she  was 
thirty-seven  years  old],  but  did  not 
deny  the  inference.'  Hannah  More's 
Memoirs,  i.  249.  Miss  Burney  de- 
scribes Mrs.  Garrickas  receiving  her 
'  with  a  politeness  and  sweetness  of 
manners  inseparable  from  her.'  Early 
Diary  of  Fanny  Barney,  i.  168. 

'  Miss  Monckton.     Ante,  ii.  151, 
n.  7. 

^  Lady  Sheffield  was  the  wife  of 
Gibbon's  friend,  Colonel  Holroyd, 
first  Baron  Sheffield.  Gibbon  de- 
scribed her  on  her  death  as  '  an 
amiable  and  affectionate  friend,  whom 
I  had  known  and  loved  above  three 
and  twenty  years,  and  whom  I  often 
styled  by  the  endearing  name  of 
sister.'  Misc.  Works,  i.  398.  Mrs. 
Way,  Johnson  describes  as  her  rela- 
tion. Post,  Letter  of  October  6,  1783. 
Lady  Sheffield  was  a  Miss  Way. 
Burke's  Peerage,  article  Earl  of 
Sheffield.  Gibbon  wrote  to  Colonel 
Holroyd  in  1772  : — *  As  Mr.  Way  has 
probably  unladen  all  the  politics,  and 
Mrs.  Way  all  the  scandal  ot  the 
town,  I  shall  for  the  present  only 
satisfy  myself  with  the  needful.' 
Misc.  Works,  ii.  79. 

^  Cumberland  had  brought  out  at 
Covent  Garden  on  April  20  his 
comedy  of  TheWalloons.   Ftwasacted 


six  nights.  Baker's  Biog.  Dram.  iii. 
389.  In  his  Memoirs,  ii.  193,  he 
passes  over  its  reception.  The  author 
for  a  long  time  had  had  for  his  pay 
the  profit  of  the  third  night.  After- 
wards a  second  night  and  later  on 
a  third  night  was  added.  Johnson's 
Works,  vii.  271.  Johnson's  Irene, 
ran,  says  Boswell,  nine  nights  ;  '  so 
that  he  had  his  three  nights'  profits.' 
Life,  i.  198.  Murphy  says  that  '  Gar- 
rick's  play-house  (Drury  Lane)  for 
some  years  held  no  more  than  ^220, 
during  that  period  the  charge  on  the 
author's  night  was  sixty  guineas.  In 
1762  the  house  was  enlarged  to  a 
receipt  of  /335  ;  the  deduction  from 
the  author's  benefit  was  raised  to 
seventy  guineas.'  Life  of  Garrick, 
p.  362. 

*  Mrs.  S is  Mrs.  Sheridan,  the 

wife  of  R.  B.  Sheridan.  See  IJfe, 
ii.  369,  where  in  1775  Johnson 
praised  Sheridan's  '  determination 
that  she  should  no  longer  sing  in 
public'  I  cannot  find  in  Moore's 
Life  of  Sheridan  any  mention  of  the 
refusal  to  sing  before  the  Prince. 

^  Theatre.  In  1776  Sheridan  with 
two  others  bought  Garrick's  moiety 
of  the  patent  of  Drury  Lane  Theatre 
for  ^35,000;  in  177S  he  made  a 
further  purchase  of  the  property. 
'  By  what  spell  all  these  thousands 
were  conjured  up,'  writes  Moore,  '  it 
would  be  difficult  accurately  to  ascer- 
tain. That  happy  art  of  putting  the 
future  in  pawn  for  the  supply  of  the 
present    must   have   been   the   chief 

exigences 


Aetat.72.]  To  Mrs.   Thrule.  253 

expences  are  yet  unpaid,  though  the  undertaker  is  broken  \ 
Could  you  have  a  better  purveyor  for  a  Httle  scandal  ?  But  I 
wish  I  was  at  Streatham.  I  beg  Miss  to  come  early,  and  I  may 
perhaps  reward  you  with  more  mischief. 

I  am,  dearest  and  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

780. 

Madam,  '^^  ^^s-  THRALE^  ^ayS,  1782. 

Yesterday  I  was  all  so  bonny,  as  who  but  me?  At  night 
my  cough  drove  me  to  diacodium,  and  this  morning  I  suspect 
that  diacodium  will  drive  me  to  sleep  in  the  chair.  Breath 
however  is  better,  and  I  shall  try  to  escape  the  other  bleeding  ^, 
for  I  am  of  the  chymical  sect,  which  holds  phlebotomy  in  abhor- 
rence "*. 

But  it  is  not  plenty  nor  diminution  of  blood  that  can  make  me 
more  or  less,  ^^^  dearest  dear  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 
I  send  my  compliments  to  my  dear  Queeney. 


781. 

To  THE  Reverend  Mr.  ,  at  Bath. 

[London],  May  15,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  150. 

resource  of  Mr.  Sheridan  in  all  these  p.  387,   an  account  is  given  of  the 

later   purchases.'      Moore's    Life    of  strife     between     the     practisers    of 

Sheridan,    ed.     1S25,    i.     180,     191,  chymical  physic  and  the  Galenists, 

263-4.  though  phlebotomy  is  not  mentioned 

'  Ajite,  ii.  230,  n.  3.  there.   Johnson,  in  spite  of  his  abhor- 

=  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  240.  rence,  had  by  March  20  lost  '  about 

^  He   had    the   first   bleeding   no  fifty  ounces  of  blood'  {Life,  iv.  146), 

doubt  as  the  result  of  his  Latin  letter  and   was    not   even    then    satisfied. 

to  Lawrence.     Atite,  ii.  251,  n.  5.  He  should  have  consulted  Dr.  San- 

"■  In  Burton's  Anatomy,  ed.  1660,  grado. 

To 


2  54  To  James  Boswell.  [a.d.  1782. 

782. 
To  George  Kearsley. 
[London],  May  20,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life^  i.  214,  n.  i. 

783. 
To  . 


May  27,  1782. 

In  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Co.'s  Auction  Catalogue  of  May  10,  1875, 
Lot  No.  99  is  a  Letter  of  Dr.  Johnson,  two  pages  quarto^  dated  May 
27,  1782.  'He  mentions  the  necessity  of  rectifying  the  passage  about 
Death ;  concludes  by  saying,  "  I  have  been  for  a  long  time  very  ill."  ' 

The  Letter  was  sold  for  £3  5^-. 

A  clergyman  at  Bath  had  drawn  Johnson's  attention  to  a  passage  in 
a  selection  from  his  writings,  entitled  The  Beauties  of  Johnson^  which 
was  supposed  by  some  readers  to  recommend  suicide.  Johnson  replied 
in  a  letter  dated  May  15,  published  in  the  Life,  iv.  150.  On  May  20 
he  wrote  to  George  Kearsley  the  publisher  of  the  book,  asking  him  to 
call  on  him  with  a  copy.  lb.  i.  214,  11.  i.  On  May  29  he  had  an 
announcement  inserted  in  the  Mornitig  Chronicle  showing  that  it  was 
not  suicide  but  exercise  which  he  had  recommended. 

784. 
To  '. 


Sir, 

I  have  collected  the  dates  of  our  business.  I  shall  be  at 
home  to-morrow  morning.  I  am  not  well,  but  hope  that  you 
are  better.  Please  to  make  compliments  to  all  the  Company  of 
Wednesday.  j  ^^^  ^^^^  ^.^^ 

Your  most,  &c., 
May  28, 1782.  Sam  :  Johnson. 

785. 
To  James  Boswell. 
London,  June  3,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  151. 

'  From  the   original    in    the  pes-  as    one   of  Mr.   Thrale's   executors, 

session  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Brooks,  of  14  often    had    business,   and   who   two 

Loraine  Place,  Newcastle.  months  later  had  to  take  a  very  long 

Tills  Letter  was   perhaps  written  journey  in  the  hope  of  recovering  his 

to  Mr.  Perkins,  with  whom  Johnson,  health.    Life,  iv.  153. 

To 


Aetat.  72.]  To  Mvs .   Tlirale.  255 


786. 

To  Mrs.  TrtRALE\ 

Madam,  London,  June  4,  1782. 

Wisely  was  it  said  by  him  who  said  it  first,  that  this  world 
is  all  ups  and  downs.  You  know,  dearest  Lady,  that  when  I 
prest  your  hand  at  parting  I  was  rather  down.  When  I  came 
hither,  I  ate  my  dinner  well,  but  was  so  harassed  by  the  cough, 
that  Mr.  Strahan  said,  it  was  an  extremity  which  he  could  not 
have  believed  without  the  sensible  and  true  avouch  of  his  own 
observation  -.  I  was  indeed  almost  sinking  under  it,  when 
Mrs.  Williams  happened  to  cry  out  that  such  a  cough  should  be 
stilled  by  opium  or  any  means.  I  took  yesterday  half  an  ounce 
of  bark,  and  knew  not  whether  opium  would  counteract  it, 
but  remembering  no  prohibition  in  the  medical  books,  and 
knowing  that  to  quiet  the  cough  with  opium  was  one  of  Law- 
rence's last  orders,  I  took  two  grains,  which  gave  me  not  sleep 
indeed,  but  rest,  and  that  rest  has  given  me  strength  and 
courage. 

This  morning  to  my  bed-side  came  dear  Sir  Richard  ^.  I  told 
him  of  the  opium,  and  he  approved  it,  and  told  me,  if  I  went  to 
Oxford,  which  he  rather  advised,  that  I  should  strengthen  the 
constitution  by  the  bark,  tame  the  cough  with  opium,  keep  the 
body  open,  and  support  myself  by  liberal  nutriment. 

As  to  the  journey  I  know  not  that  it  will  be  necessary,  desine 

mollunn  tandem  quertdarum'' . This  day  I  dined  upon  skate, 

pudding,  goose,  and  your  asparagus,  and  could  have  eaten  more, 
but  was  prudent. 

Pray  for  me,  dear  Madam  ;  I  hope  the  tide  has  turned.  The 
change  that  I  feel  is  more  than  I  durst  have  hoped,  or  than  I 
thought  possible  ;  but  there  has  yet   not  passed  a  whole  day, 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  241.  ^  Sir  Richard  Jebb. 

"^  '  Before  my  God,  I  might  not  this  *  querelartan.     HORACE,  2  Odes, 

believe  ix.  17. 

Without   the  sensible  and   true  '  At  length  these  weak  complaints 

avouch  give  o'er.' 

Of  mine  own  eyes.'  Francis. 

Hajnlet,  Act  i.  sc.  i. 

and 


256  To  Mrs.    Tkrale.  [a.d.  1782. 

and  I  may  rejoice  perhaps  too  soon.     Come  and  see  me,  and 
when  you  think  best,  upon  due  consideration,  take  me  away. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

787. 

Madam,  ^'^  ^^^-  [Miss]  Prowse'. 

I  have  thus  long  omitted  the  acknowlegement  \sic\  of  your 
letter  and  bill — not  by  levity  or  negligence  but  under  the  pres- 
sure of  ilness  \sic\  long  continued  and  very  distresful  \sic\.  I 
am  now  better,  but  yet  so  far  from  health  that  I  have  been 
purposing  to  seek  relief  from  change  of  air  by  a  journey  to 
Oxford. 

Your  health,  Madam,  I  hope  allows  you  the  full  enjoyment  of 
this  blooming  season  ^  I  have  yet  been  able  to  derive  little 
pleasure  from  verdure  or  from  fragrance. 

I  am,  Madam, 
Your  most  humble  servant, 

Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street.  Sam  :  JOHNSON. 

June  4,  1782. 

788. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  Saturday,  June  8,  1782. 

Perhaps  some  of  your  people  may  call  to-morrow.     I  have 

'  First   published    in    Notes    and  legement,   distresful^  and  ilness.    It 

Queries,  4th  S.  v.  442.     Copied   by  is    his   receipt    to    Mrs.     Prowse   of 

me  from  a  copy  in  the  possession  of  Berkeley  for  Miss  Hearne's  ^10.' 

the  Rev.  Edward  B.  Edgell,  of  Brom-  ForMissHearneseert«/<?,ii.  193,«.4. 

ham  Rectory,  Chippenham.     On  the  -  Horace  Walpole  wrote  the  same 

copy  is  written: — 'The  original  in  day: — '  Stonhewer  has  been  very  ill 

the   possession   of    John    Sheppard,  of  the  influenza,  and  Palgrave  a  little, 

Esqre,  Frome,  given  to  him  by  my  but  we  have  had  two  dry  days  after 

father,    the    Rev.    Edward    Edgell,  fifty-three  of  rain,  and  begin  to  wear 

of   East    Hill,   near    Frome.       This  our  rainbow  again.'  Letters,  viii.  229. 

letter  is  curious  as  containing  three  ^  Piozzi  Letters,    ii.    251.       This 

words  which  vary  from  Dr.  Johnson's  letter    is    wrongly    dated    by    Mrs. 

own  Dictionary's  spelling — ucknoiv-  Piozzi,  July  8. 

this 


Aetat.  72.]  To  Mvs.   Tkralc.  257 

this  day  taken  a  passage '  to  Oxford  for  Monday.  Not  to  frisk 
as  you  express  it  with  very  unfeeling  irony,  but  to  catch  at  the 
hopes  of  better  health.  The  change  of  place  may  do  something. 
To  leave  the  house  where  so  much  has  been  suffered  affords 
some  pleasure.  When  I  write  to  you  write  to  me  again,  and  let 
me  have  the  pleasure  of  knowing  that  I  am  still  considered  as 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

789. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  Oxford,  June  n,  1782. 

Yesterday  I  came  to  Oxford  without  fatigue  or  incon- 
venience. I  read  in  the  coach  before  dinner^.  I  dined  mode- 
rately, and  slept  well ;  but  find  my  breath  not  free  this  morning. 
Dr.  Edwards,  to  whom  I  wrote  word  of  my  purpose  to  come, 
has  defeated  his  own  kindness  by  its  excess.  He  has  gone  out 
of  his  own  rooms  for  my  reception'*,  and  therefore  I  cannot 

'  Johnson   does  not   in   his   Die-  where  Johnson  speaks  of  Edwards 

iionary  give  a  definition  oi  passage  as 'my  convivial  friend.'  It  is  strange 

which  suits  the  sense  in  which   he  that  while  in  the  Hebrides  Johnson's 

here  uses  it.     Passenger,  however,  he  room  is  shown  in  some  of  the  houses 

defines   as    '  one  who  hires  in    any  which  he  visited,  of  this  visit  of  his 

vehicle  the  liberty  of  travelling.'  to  Jesus  College  no  tradition  is  pre- 

'^  Piozzi    Letters,   ii.    261.       This  served.     In   fact   it   is,   I   believe,  a 

letter    is    wrongly    dated    by    Mrs.  discovery  of  mine   that   he  resided 

Piozzi,   June    11,    1783.     It   belongs  there.     Where  Johnson  was  lodged 

without  any  doubt  to  June,  1782.  we   cannot  be  sure.     His   host  was 

^  It  was  at  a  coach-dinner  on  the  Vice-Principal,  and   probably  I  am 

road  to   Oxford  that  two  years  later  told  in  that  capacity  occupied    the 

he  scolded  the  waiter  for  the  roast  rooms  in  the  south-western  corner  of 

mutton,   saying  : — '  It  is  as  bad  as  the  outer  quadrangle,  the  first  floor 

bad  can  be  ;  it  is  ill-fed,  ill-killed,  ill-  right.     Johnson's  fame  in  Oxford  at 

kept,  and  ill-drest.'     Life,  iv.  284.  this  time  is  shown  by  an  anecdote 

"*  Hannah  More  wrote  this   same  which  I  have   from    the    Master   of 

month  : — '  I  am  engaged  to  dine  on  Balliol    College.     Boswell   mentions 

my     return     to     Oxford    with    the  Dr.  Wall,  a  physician  at  Oxford,  who 

learned  Dr.  Edwards  of  Jesus  College,  drank  tea  with  Johnson  in  1784.  Life, 

to     meet     Dr.     Johnson,     Thomas  iv.  292.     His  widow  was  alive  when 

Warton,  and  whatever  else  is  most  the    Master   entered    Balliol.       She 

learned  and  famous  in  this  Univer-  used  to  narrate  that  she  had  seen  a 

sity.'     H.    More's   Memoirs,  i.    262.  double  line  of  people  waiting  to  see 

See  post.  Letter  of  May  31,   1784,  Dr.  Johnson  enter  the  Cathedral. 

VOL.  II.  S  decently 


258  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.1782. 

decently  stay  long,  unless  I  can  change  my  abode,  which  it  will 
not  be  very  easy  to  do :  nor  do  I  know  what  attractions  I  shall 
find  here.  Here  is  Miss  Moore '  at  Dr.  Adams's,  with  whom 
I  shall  dine  to-morrow.  Of  my  adventures  and  observations 
I  shall  inform  you,  and  beg  you  to  write  to  me  at  Mr.  Parker's, 
bookseller^. 

I  hope  Oueeney  has  got  rid  of  her  influenza,  and  that  you 
escape  it.  If  I  had  Oueeney  here,  how  would  I  shew  her  all  the 
places  ^.     I  hope,  however,  I  shall  not  want  company  in  my  stay 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

790. 

To  Mrs,  Thrale  \ 
Dear  Madam,  Oxford,  June  12, 1782. 

My   letter  was    perhaps    peevish,  but  it    was    not    unkind. 

I  should  have  cared  little  about  a  wanton  expression,  if  there 

had  been  no  kindness  ^ 

I  find  no  particular  salubrity  in  this  air^,  my  respiration  is 
very  laborious  ;  my  appetite  is  good,  and  my  sleep  commonly 
long  and  quiet  ;  but  a  very  little  motion  disables  me. 

I  dine   to-day  with    Dr.   Adams  ^,  and   to-morrow  with   Dr. 

'  Hannah  More.  "*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  243. 
^  Ante,  ii.  228.  ^  Johnson,  I  conjecture,  wrote 
^  Mrs.  Thrale,  in  the  reply  which  '  any  kindness.'  The  '  wanton  ex- 
she  publishes  to  this  letter,  says  : — ■  pression  '  was  'frisk.'  Ante,  ii.  257. 
'  It  would  have  been  a  fine  advantage  ^  Ayliffe  in  his  State  of  tJie  Uni- 
indeed  could  Miss  Thrale  have  seen  versify  of  Oxford  (1723,  i.  240) 
Oxford  now  in  your  company ;  when  speaks  of  '  the  sweetness  and  com- 
we  enjoyed  it  she  was  too  young  to  modiousness  of  the  situation  of 
profit  of  the  circumstance.'  Piozzi  Oxford.'  In  A  Pocket  Coinpafiion 
Letters,  ii.  267.  Unfortunately  for  /f^  (9jr/£>r^  (1762,  p.  3),  we  read  that 
her  credit  she  dates  her  letter  June  'the  soil  is  dry,  being  on  a  fine  gravel, 
15,  1783,  and  in  it  refers  to  a  letter  which  renders  it  as  healthful  and 
of  Johnson's  written  two  days  earlier.  pleasant  a  spot  as  any  in  the  King- 
In  June  1783  Johnson  did  not  visit  doni.' 

Oxford.  Having  by  mistake  inserted  '  'Dr.    Adams,'    writes     Hannah 

Johnson's   letter  in  the  text  in  the  More,  *  had  contrived  a  very  pretty 

wrong  year  she  fabricates  her  answer  piece    of  gallantry.       After   dinner, 

to  include  it  and  one  written  twelve  Johnson  begged  to  conduct  me  to  see 

months  and  two  days  later.  the  College  ;    he  would    let  no  one 

Wctherel. 


Aetat.  72.]  To  Mrs.   Tkrak.  259 

Wetherel '.  Yesterday  Dr.  Edwards  invited  some  men  from 
Exeter  college,  whom  I  liked  very  well.  These  variations  of 
company  help  the  mind,  though  they  cannot  do  much  for  the 
body.     But  the  body  receives  some  help  from  a  cheerful  mind. 

Keep  up  some  kindness  for  me  ;  when  I  am  with  you  again, 
I  hope  to  be  less  burdensome,  by  being  less  sick^. 

I  am,  dearest  Lady, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

791. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Dear  Madam,  Oxford,  June  13,  1782, 

Yesterday  a  little  physick  drove  away  a  great  part  of  my 

cough,  but  I  am  still  very  much  obstructed  in  my  respiration,  and 

so  soon  tired  with  walking,  that   I   have  hardly  ventured  one 

unnecessary  step.     Of  my  long  illness  much  more  than  this  does 

not  remain,  but  this  is  very  burthensome.     I  sleep  pretty  well, 

and  have  appetite  enough,  but  I  cheat  it  with  fish. 

Yesterday  I  dined  at  Dr.  Adams's  with  Miss  More,  and  other 

personages  of  eminence.     To-day  I  am  going  to  Dr.  Wetherel ; 

and  thus  day  goes  after  day,  not  wholly  without  amusement. 

show  it  me  but  himself.     "This  was  to  hang  in  the  Hall.     '  His  answer 

my  room  ;  this  Shenstone's."     Then,  was  that  he  had  no  right  to  be  placed 

after  pointing  out  all  the  rooms   of  among  the  Founders  and  Benefactors 

the  poets  who  had  been  of  his  college,  of  the  College  in  the  Hall ;  that  the 

"  In  short,"  said  he,  "  we  were  a  nest  most  he  could  aspire  to  would  be  a 

of  singing-birds."     When  we  came  place  in  the  Lodgings  [the  Master's 

into  the  common-room,  we  spied  a  house],  if  the  Master  could  find  room 

fine  large  print  of  Johnson,  hung  up  for     his     picture     there.'       Messrs. 

that  very  morning,  with  this  motto: —  Sotheby    and    Co.'s     Auct.    CataL, 

And  is  not  Johnson  ours,  himself  a  November   27,    1889,  Lot   90.     The 

host  ?     Under  which  stared  you  in  late  Mr.  Andrew  Spottiswoode  a  few 

the  face — From  Miss  Morel's  "  Sensi-  years  ago   gave  the    College  a  fine 

bility."     This  little  incident  amused  portrait  of  Johnson  by  Reynolds, 
us  :  but,  alas  !  Johnson  looks  very  ill  '  Dr.    Wetherell    was    Master    of 

indeed— spiritless  and  wan.     How-  University  College, 
ever,  he  made  an  efifort  to  be  cheer-  ^  *  Dr.  Johnson,'  writes  Mrs.  Piozzi, 

ful.'     H.    More's    Memoirs,   \.   261.  'required    less   attendance,  sick    or 

Dr.  Adams,  writing  about  the  print,  well,   than   ever  I   saw   any  human 

says  that  Miss  Adams  told  Johnson  creature.'     Piozzi's  Attecdotes,  p.  275. 
that  he  ought  to  give  them  his  picture  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  244. 

S  2  I  think 


26o  To  Mrs.   Tkrale.  [a.d.  1782. 

I  think  not  to  stay  here  long.  Till  I  am  better  it  is  not 
prudent  to  sit  long  in  the  libraries,  for  the  weather  is  yet  so  cold, 
that  in  the  penury  of  fuel,  for  which  we  think  ourselves  very 
unhappy,  I  have  yet  met  with  none  so  frugal  as  to  sit  without 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 
Poor  Davis  ^  complained  that  he  had  not  received  his  money 
for  Boyle. 

792. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  3. 
Dear   Madam,  Oxford,  June  17,  1782. 

I  have  found  no  sudden  alteration  or  amendment,  but  I  am 
grown  better  by  degrees.  My  cough  is  not  now  very  trouble- 
some to  myself,  nor  I  hope  to  others.  My  breath  is  still  short 
and  encumbered  ;  I  do  not  sleep  well,  but  I  lie  easy.  By  change 
of  place,  succession  of  company,  and  necessity  of  talking,  much 
of  the  terrour  that  had  seized  me  seems  to  be  dispelled. 

Oxford  has  done,  I  think,  what  for  the  present  it  can  do,  and 
I  am  going  slyly  to  take  a  place  in  the  coach  for  Wednesday, 
and  you  or  my  sweet  Queeney  will  fetch  me  on  Thursday,  and 
see  what  you  can  make  of  me. 

To-day  I  am  going  to  dine  with  Dr.  Wheeler'*,  and  to-morrow 
Dr.  Edwards  has  invited  Miss  Adams  and  Miss  More.  Yester- 
day I  went  with  Dr.  Edwards  to  his  living  ^     He  has  really  done 

'  For  'the  penury  of  fuel'  at  August  20,  1783,  and  May  31,  1784. 
London,  see  ante,  ii.  251,  ti.  5.  His  talk  no  doubt  was  full  of  variety, 
Horace  Walpole  writing  on  the  same  for  he  had  been  Fellow  of  Magdalen 
day  as  Johnson,  says  :—  '  You  had  College,  Professor  of  Poetry,  Pro- 
better  put  an  erratum  at  the  end  of  fessor  of  Natural  Philosophy,  and 
your  Almanac,  for  June  read  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity,  as  well 
January.'     Letters,  viii.  232.  as  Canon  of  Christ  Church  and  Pre- 

*  Most  likely  Tom  Davies,  the  bendary  of  St.  Paul's  {Ahonni 
bankrupt  bookseller.     Life,  iii.  223.  Oxotiicnses).     Many  of  these  offices 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  249.  he  held  at  the  same  time.     He  died 

*  Johnson,  after  Wheeler's   death,      July  22,  1783. 

spoke  of  him  as  'the  man  with  whom  ^  He  was  Rector  of  Besselsleigh, 

I  most  delighted  to  converse  '  and  as       I5erkshire,  a  small  village  about  five 
'  my  learned  friend.'    /W/,  Letters  of      miles   from   Oxford.      It   was   on    a 

all 


Aetat.  72.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.    Taylor. 


261 


all  that  he  could  do  for  my  relief  or  entertainment,  and  really 
drives  me  away  by  doing  too  much  '. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 
When  I  come  back  to  retirement,  it  will  be  great   charity  in 
you  to  let  me  come  back  to  something  else. 


793. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 
Dear  Sir, 

You  are  doubtless  impatient  to  know  the  present  state  of  the 
court.  Dr.  Hunter  ^,  whom  I  take  to  have  very  good  intelligence, 
has  just  left  me,  and  from  him  I  learn  only  that  all  is  yet  uncer- 
tainty and  confusion. 

Fox,  you  know,  has  resigned,  Burke's  dismission  is  expected. 
I  was  particularly  told  that  the  Cavendishes  were  expected  to 
be  left  out  in  the  new  settlement  \    The  Doctor  spoke,  however, 


Sunday  that  he  took  Johnson  to  his 
living.  No  doubt  they  returned  the 
same  evening.  The  old  manor-house 
was  then  standing  which  had  be- 
longed to  Lenthall,  the  Speaker. 
Johnson  was  no  doubt  gravely  told 
that  '  Cromwell,  who  was  a  frequent 
visitor  here,  usually  concealed  him- 
self in  a  room  to  which  the  only  access 
was  by  a  chair  let  down  and  drawn 
up  with  pulleys.'  Lewis's  Topog. 
Diet,  of  England,  article  Bessels- 
leigh. 

'  By  the  kindness  of  my  friend  the 
Rev.  Llewelyn  Thomas,  Vice-Prin- 
cipal of  Jesus  College,  I  am  able  to 
give  further  proof  of  the  hospitality 
of  his  predecessor.  The  Battel-book 
for  1784  shows  that  the  average 
battels  or  weekly  bills  were  not  much 
over  \os.  Johnson  was  there  part  of 
two  weeks.  In  the  week  beginning 
June  7  the  Vice-Principal's  battels 
rose  to  ^2  16^-.  id.,  and  in  the  next 
week  to  ^4  \s.     In  the  second  week 


many  of  the  Fellows  and  Scholars  had 
unusually  high  battels — one  over  ;^3 
— so  that  there  seems  to  have  been 
some  general  feasting.  Well  did 
Johnson  call  Edwards  '  my  convivial 
friend.' 

-  First  published  in  Notes  and 
Queries,  6th  S.  v.  461. 

The  Prime-Minister,  the  Marquis 
of  Rockingham,  died  on  July  i  ;  Lord 
John  Cavendish,  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  and  Fox,  one  of  the 
Secretaries  of  State,  resigned  on  the 
5th ;  Burke's  resignation  as  Pay- 
master-General followed  almost  im- 
mediately. The  Earl  of  Shelburne 
succeeded  Rockingham.  Ann,  Reg., 
1782,  i.  182,  213. 

•^  Dr.  WiUiam  Hunter.  Life,  iv. 
220.     See  Appendix  B. 

''  Taylor,  forty  years  earlier,  had 
been  hoping  for  preferment  through 
the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  the  head  of 
the  Cavendishes.  Afite,  i.  12,  n.  i. 
His  hopes  were  once  more  baffled  by 

with 


262  To  the  Reverend  Dr.    Taylor.         [a.d.  1782. 


with  very  little  confidence,  nor  do  I  believe  that  those  who  are 
now  busy  in  the  contest  can  judge  of  the  event.  I  did  not  think 
Rockingham  of  such  importance  as  that  his  death  should  have 
had  such  extensive  consequences. 

Have  you  settle[d]  about  the  silver  coffeepot  ^  ?  is  it  mine  or 
Mrs.  Fletcher's  ?     I  am  yet  afraid  of  liking  it  too  well. 

If  there  is  any  thing  that  I  can  do  for  Miss  Colliers'',  let  me 
know.  But  now  you  have  so  kindly  engaged  in  it,  I  am  willing 
to  set  myself  at  ease. 

When  you  went  away,  I  did  not  expect  so  long  absence.  If 
you  are  engaged  in  any  political  business,  I  suppose  your  opera- 
tions are  at  present  suspended,  as  is,  I  believe,  the  whole  political 
movement.     These  are  not  pleasant  times  ^. 

I  came  back  from  Oxford  in  ten  days  and  was  almost  restored 
to  health.     My  breath  is  not  quite  free,  but  my  cough  is  gone. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  July  8,  1782. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor  at  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 
[Redirected,  Market  Bosworth,  Leicestershire  \] 

794. 
To  Miss  Lawrence. 
[London],  July  22,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  144,  n.  3. 

795. 

T^  c^         To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 

Dear  Sir, 

I  do  not  hear  that  the  Cavendishes  are  likely  to  find  their 

[way]  soon  into  publick  offices,  but  I  do  not  doubt  of  the  Duke's 

ability  to  procure  the  exchange  for  which  he  has  stipulated,  and 

which  is  now  not  so  much  a  favour  as  a  contract. 

his  friends  going    out   of  power  on  says  of  Enghxnd  : — '  We  seem  to  be 

Rockingham's  death.     See  the  next  sinking.' 

letter.  ■*  Taylor   was   Rector   of    Market 

'  Ante,  ii.  247.  Bosworth.     Ante,  i.  13,  n.  6. 

-  Miss  Collier  is  mentioned,  post,  ''  First    published    in    Notes    and 

pp.  269,  270.  Queries,  6th  S.  v.  462. 

'  See  post,  p.  264,  where  Johnson 

Your 


Aetat.  72.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.    Taylor.  263 

Your  reason  for  the  exchange  I  do  not  fully  comprehend,  but 
I  conceive  myself  a  Gainer  by  it,  because,  I  think,  you  must  be 
more  in  London. 

Mr.  Burke's  family  is  computed  to  have  lost  by  this  revolution 
twelve  thousand  a  year ',  What  a  rise,  and  what  a  fall !  Shel- 
burne  speaks  of  him  in  private  with  great  malignity  ^. 

I  have  heard  no  more  from  the  Miss  Colliers^.  Now  you  have 
engaged  on  their  side,  I  am  less  solicitous  about  them.  Be  on 
their  side  as  much  as  you  can,  for  you  know  they  are  friendless. 

Sir  Robert  Chambers  slipped  this  session  through  the  fingers 
of  revocation,  but  I  am  in  doubt  of  his  continuance.  Shelburne 
seems  to  be  his  enemy.  Mrs.  Thrale  says  they  will  do  him  no 
harm.  She  perhaps  thinks  there  is  no  harm  without  hanging. 
The  mere  act  of  recall  strips  him  of  eight  thousand  a  year*. 

I  am  not  very  well,  but  much  better  than  when  we  parted,  and 
I  hope  that  milk  and  summer  together  are  improving  you,  and 
strengthening  you  against  the  attack  of  winter. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  affectionate 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  July  22,  1782. 
To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor  at  Market  Bosworth,  Leicestershire. 

'  Burke,  in  a  letter  dated  April  24  of   Shelburne.'      Life,    iv.    191.     He 

of  this  year,  says  : — '  The  ofifice  is  to  knew   also    his    brother,    Mr.    Fitz- 

be  ^4,000  certain.      Young  Richard  maurice.    Ante,  ii.  81.     Burke  spoke 

[his  son]  is  the  deputy,  with  a  salary  of  Shelburne  with  great  violence.    In 

oi  £i)00 Something  considerable  1783   he  described  him   in  a  letter 

is  also  to  be  secured  for  the  life  of  to  a  private  friend  as  '  this  wicked 

young  Richard,  to  be  a  security  for  man,  and   no  less  weak  and  stupid 

him  and  his  mother.  .  .  .  My  brother  than  false  and  hypocritical.'    Payne's 

has   before   hiin   the   option   of  the  Select  Works  of  Burke,  vol.  i.  p.  xvi. 

Secretaryship  of  the  Treasury,  with  ^  Their  mother  as  is  shown, /cj/, 

precedence  in   the    office.'     Burke's  by  the   Letter  of  January   16,   1783, 

Correspofidence,  ii.  483.     In  the  short  had  married  a  Mr.  Flint.     She  had 

time  in  which  he  was  in  office,  by  his  brought  him,  Johnson  thought,  about 

reform,    '  ^47,000    per   annum   was  ^^200  a  year.     She  was  dead,  and  he 

saved   to  the  public,  of  which  sum  apparently  was   attempting  to  keep 

;^25,300  were  the  usual  and  avowed  the  property  to  himself, 

perquisites  of  the  Paymaster.'  Prior's  ''  Chambers,  in  1773,  had  been  ap- 

Burke,  ed.  1872,  p.  218.  pointed  second  Judge  in  the  Supreme 

-  '  Johnson  was  at  a  certain  period  Court  of  Bombay  with  ;^6,ooo  a  year, 

of  his  life  a  good  deal  with  the  Earl  He   had    been    one    of   Nuncomar's 

To 


264 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  [a.d.  1782. 


796. 

To  Mr.  Perkins. 
[London],  July  28,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  153. 

797. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 

Dear  Sir. 

The  refusal  of  Mr.  Dixie  ^  if  it  be  peremptory  and  final, 
puts  an  end  to  all  projects  of  exchange.  You  may,  however,  if 
your  friends  get  into  power,  obtain  preferment.  But  do  not  be 
any  further  solicitous  about  it  ;  leave  the  world  a-while  to  itself. 

I  now  direct  to  Ashbourne,  where  I  suppose  you  are  settled 
for  a-while,  and  where  I  beg  you  to  do  what  you  can  for  the  poor 
Colliers. 

I  have  no  national  news  that  is  not  in  the  papers,  and  almost 
all  news  is  bad.  Perhaps  no  nation  not  absolutely  conquered 
has  declined  so  much  in  so  short  a  time.  We  seem  to  be  sinking^. 
Suppose  the  Irish  having  already  gotten  a  free  trade  and  an 
independent  Parliament,  should  say  we  will  have  a  King,  and 
ally  ourselves  with  the  house  of  Bourbon,  what  could  be  done  to 
hinder  or  to  overthrow  them  "* } 


Judges.  Lord  Shelburne  had  only 
been  in  office  two  or  three  days  when 
he  transmitted  to  Sir  Elijah  Impey, 
the  Chief  Justice,  the  message  by 
which  that  judge  was  recalled. 
Chambers,  however,  was  not  touched. 
In  1789  he  was  made  Chief  Justice. 
See  Life,  ii.  264,  and  Nuncomar  and 
Jmpey  by  Sir  J.  F.  Stephen,  i.  35  ; 
ii.  6. 

'  First  published  in  the  Catalogue 
of  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison's  Auto- 
graphs, ii.  343. 

-  He  was  probably  a  relation  of 
Sir  Wolfstan  Dixey,  the  patron  of 
Taylor's  living  of  Market  Bosworth. 
Ante,  i.  13,  n.  6. 

'  Horace  Walpole  wrote  at  the  end 
of  the  month  :  — '  This  country  is 
absolutely    lost.     I    mean,    past    re- 


covery. .  .  .  Ireland  has  shaken  us 
off — not  unfortunately,  if  ii  goes  no 
farther ;  for  it  will  flourish,'which  our 
jealousy  hindered.'  Letters,  viii.  271. 
^  In  the  session  of  1779-80  Lord 
North,  yielding  to  Ireland's  demand 
for  '  a  free  and  unlimited  commerce 
with  the  whole  world,'  carried  through 
Parliament  three  bills  which  greatly 
freed  her  trade.  Ann.  Reg.,  1780,  i. 
25,  78.  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on 
December  20,  1779  : — '  Great  conces- 
sions to  Ireland  have  been  adopted, 
are  sailing  through  both  Houses  with 
favourable  gales,  have  been  notified 
to  Ireland,  and  have  pleased  there, 
and  we  trust  will  restore  harmony 
between  these  islands.'  Letters,  vii. 
293.  The  independent  Parliament 
was  the  work  of  Lord  Rockingham's 

Poor 


Aetat.  72.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  265 


Poor  dear  Dr.  Lawrence  is  gone  to  die  at  Canterbury.  He  has 
lost  his  speech  and  the  action  of  his  right  side,  with  very  little 
hope  of  recovering  them  '. 

We  must  all  go.     I  was  so  exhausted  by  loss  of  blood,  and 

by  successive  disorders  in  the  beginning  of  this  year  that  I  am 

afraid  that  the  remaining  part  will  hardly  restore  me.     I  have 

indeed  rather  indulged   myself  too   much,  and   think  to  begin 

a  stricter  regimen.     As  it  is  my  friends  tell  me  from  time  to 

time  that  I  look  better,  and  I  am  very  willing  to  believe  them. 

Do  you  likewise  take  care  of  your  health,  we  cannot  well  spare 

one  another. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  affectionately, 
London,  August  4,  1782.  SaM  :   JOHNSON. 

798. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  calculate  this  letter  to  meet  you  at  Ashbourne,  whither 
I  hope  you  are  well  enough  to  come  according  to  your  purpose. 
And  I  write  to  warn  you  very  carefully  against  useless  and 
unnecessary  vexation.  To  be  robbed  is  very  offensive,  but  you 
have  been  robbed  of  nothing  that  you  can  feel  the  want  of.  Let 
not  the  loss,  nor  the  circumstances  of  the  loss,  take  any  hold 
upon  your  mind.  This  loss  will  in  a  short  time  repair  itself,  but 
you  have  a  greater  loss,  the  loss  of  health  which  must  be  repaired 
by  your  own  prudence  and  diligence,  and  of  which  nothing  can 
more  obstruct  the  reparation  than  an  uneasy  mind. 

But  how  are  you  to  escape  uneasiness?  By  company  and 
business.  Get  and  keep  about  you  those  with  whom  you  are 
most  at  ease,  and  contrive  for  your  mornings  something  to  do, 
and  bustle  about  it  as  much  as  you  can.     If  you  think  London 

short  Ministry.  Walpole  wrote  on  May  demand  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.' 
18, 1782  (zA  viii.  222): — '  Both  Houses  '  He  died  at  Canterbury  in  June  of 
in  very  few  hours  signed  the  absolute  the  following  year.  Life,  iv.  230,  n.  2. 
independence  of  Ireland.  I  shall  not  -  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
be  surprised  if  our  whole  trinity  is  sion  of  Messrs.  J.  Pearson  and  Co., 
dissolved,    and    if   Scotland   should  5  Pall  Mall  Place,  S.W. 

a  place 


266  To  the  Reverend  Dr.   Taylor.         [a.d.  1782. 

a  place  of  more  amusements  come  hither^  or  take  any  other  kind 
of  harmless  diversion,  but  diversion  of  some  kind  or  other  you 
cannot  at  present  be  without.  To  muse  and  think  will  do  you 
much  harm,  and  if  you  are  alone  and  at  leisure,  troublesome 
thoughts  will  force  themselves  upon  you  '. 

Be  particularly  careful  now  to  drink  enough ",  and  to  avoid 
costiveness  ;  you  will  find  that  vexation  has  much  more  power 
over  you,  ridiculous  as  it  may  seem,  if  you  neglect  to  evacuate 
your  body. 

I  have  now  had  three  quiet  nights  together,  which,  I  suppose, 
I  have  not  for  more  than  a  year  before  ^  I  hope  we  shall  both 
grow  better,  and  have  a  longer  enjoyment  of  each  other. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  August  12,  1782. 
To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor,  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


799. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor'*. 
Dear  Sir, 

Though  I  follow  you  thus  with  letters,  I  have  not  much  to 
say.  I  write  because  I  would  hear  from  you  the  state  of  your 
health  and  of  your  mind.  Upon  your  mind  in  my  opinion  your 
health  will  very  much  depend,  and  I  therefore  repeat  my 
injunction  of  bustle  and  cheerfulness.  Do  not  muse  by  yourself; 
do  not  suffer  yourself  to  be  an  hour  without  something  to  do. 
Suffer  nothing  disagreeable  to  approach  you  after  dinner. 

Of  the  publick  I  have  nothing  to  say,  there  seem  to  be  ex- 
pectations of  a  violent  session  when  the  factions  meet.  Nor  have 
I  much  to  say  of  myself  but  that  I  think  myself  freed  from  all  the 

'  See   Life,    ii.   440,    ill.   415,    for  to  the  middle  of  June  I  was  battered 

Johnson's  art  of  managing  the  mind.  by  one  disorder  after  another.'    Life, 

-  See  ante,  i.  368  ;  ii.  87.  iv.  153. 

^  On  August  24  he  wrote  to  Bos-  *  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
well  :  '  This  year  has  been  very  sion  of  Mr.  George  Peck,  of  25  Ches- 
heavy.     From  the  middle  of  January  ham  Place,  Belgrave  Square,  SAV. 

supervenient 


Aetat.  72.]       To  the  Reverend  George  Strahan.  267 

supervenient  distempers  of  this  year,  and  as  well  as  when  I  was 
with  you.  My  great  complaint  now  is  unquietness  in  the  night. 
Do  not  let  me  write  again  before  I  am  told  how  you  do.  It  is 
reasonable  that  you  and  I  should  be  anxious  for  each  other  ;  our 
ages  are  not  very  different,  and  we  have  lived  long  together. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  affectionate,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

August  17,  1782. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor,  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

Do  not  fret. 

800. 

To  THE  Reverend  George  Strahan  '. 

Sir, 

I  have  not  yet  read  your  letter  through  and  therefore  cannot 
answer  it  particularly.  Of  what  you  say  so  far  as  I  have  read 
all  is,  I  think,  true  but  the  application.  What  I  told  him  ^  of  your 
discontent  on  many  occasions  was  to  not  provoke  him  but  to  pacify 
him,  by  representing  that  discontent  of  which  he  complained 
so  much,  not  as  any  personal  disrespect  to  him  but  as  a  cast  of 
mind  which  you  had  always  had.  Your  discontent  on  many 
occasions  has  appeared  to  me  little  short  of  madness,  which 
however  I  did  not  tell  him  ^.  Then  your  uneasiness  at  Oxford 
was  a  weak  [?]  thing  which  passed  for  an  instance  by  which  I  do 
not  see  how  he  could  be  inflamed.  The  whole  tendency  of  what 
I  said  was  this,  '  He  is  you  say  discontented,  if  he  is,  it  is  not 
by  any  personale  \sic\  disesteem  to  you,  he  is  apt  to  be  dis- 
contented.' 

As  to  the  matter  of  the  money  I  am  much  of  the  mind  that 
you  have  represented.  But  I  did  not  think  nor  think  now  that 
I  said  anything  that  would  hinder  your  father  from  any  act  of 
liberality'*. 

*  From  the  original  in  the  posses-  writing  to  him  when  a  boy  at  school 

sion   of  Mr.    William  R.   Smith,  of  was  anxious  not  to  be  suspected  of 

Greatham  Moor,  West  Liss,  Hants.  betraying  his  state  of  mind. 

"^  George  Strahan's  father,  William  ''  William  Strahan  wrote  to  David 

Strahan  the  printer.  Hume  on  January  25,  1773  : — '  My 

^  See  ante,  i.  95,  where  Johnson  son  George  is  now  Vicar  of  Islington, 

You 


268  To  the  Reverend  George  Sh'akan.     [a.d.  1782. 

You  may  be  sure,  I  am  sure,  I  had  no  intention  to  hurt  you, 
and  if  I  have  hurt  you,  nothing  that  I  can  do  shall  be  omitted  to 
repair  the  hurt. 

You  may  well  be  at  a  loss  to  conjecture  why  I  should  injure 
you,  whom  certainly  I  have  no  reason  to  injure,  and  whom  I 
would  suffer  much  [rather]  than  injure  by  design,  and  shall  be 
very  sorry  if  I  have  done  it  by  that  train  of  talk  which  I  was 
drawn  into  without  design  and  almost  without  remembrance. 
If  I  have  really  done  you  harm  I  shall  live  in  hope  of  doing  you 
sometime  as  much  good,  though  good  is  not  so  easily  done. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Aug.  19,  1782. 

[Sent  in  a  cover  addressed  to  the  Reverend  Mr.  Strahan.] 

801. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  August  24,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  153. 

802. 

To  Miss  Lawrence. 
[London],  August  26,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  144,  n.  2. 

803. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  September  7,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  154. 

804. 

To  Mrs.  Boswell. 
London,  September  7,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  156. 

805. 

To  James  Boswell. 

London,  September  or  October.  One  paragraph  only  of  this  Letter 
is  published  in  the  Life,  iv.  155. 

with  an  income  of  between  ^300  and  less  than  these  things  usually  come 
^400  a  year.  The  purchase  however  to.'  Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan,  p. 
cost  a  good  deal  of  money,  though      261. 

To 


Aetat.  73.]  To  the  Rcverend  Dr.    Taylor.  269 

806. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 
Dear  Sir, 

Your  letter  about  a  week  ago  told  me  that  your  health  is 
mended.  Health  is  the  basis  of  all  happiness  of  \sic\  this  world 
gives.     Your  loss  likewise  seems  to  be  less  than  I  had  feared. 

Of  the  probability  of  Shelburne's  continuance  '^  I  can  make  no 
judgment.  Sickness  has  this  year  thrown  me  out  of  the  world  ; 
but  I  think  myself  growing  better. 

The  proposal  of  Miss  Colliers  seems  to  be  wild.  If  I  under- 
stand it  right,  they  wish  that  he  should  lend  them  money,  that 
they  may  sue  him  for  the  estate  ^. 

I  hope  to  let  them  know  that  if  they  send  me  their  Grand- 
father's will,  I  will  get  some  opinion  upon  it. 

If  they  want  money  to  procure  it  from  the  registry  I  will 
repay  you  what  you  advance  as  far  as  ten  pounds. 

Take  great  care  of  your  health.  Let  nothing  disturb  you. 
Particularly  avoid  costiveness,  and  open  no  letter  of  business  but 
in  the  morning. 

If  you  would  have  me  write  to  Mr.  Hayley  "*,  about  Miss 
Colliers,  let  me  know.    I  will  do  anything  for  them  that  is  proper. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Yours    affectionately, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Sept.  21,  1782. 
To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor,  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

807. 

T^  c.  To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^. 

Dear  Sir, 

To  help  the  ignorant  commonly  requires  much  patience,  for 

'  From  the  original  in  the  posses-  ''  Mr.  Chamberlain  is  not  sure  of 

sion  of  Mr.  Mellin  Chamberlain,  of  the    name,   and   thinks    it   may  be 

the  Boston  Public  Library,   United  Layley.      I    believe    it    is    Langley. 

States.  See  ante,  ii.  34,  n.  3,  and  post,  Letter 

^  The  Shelbume   Ministry   lasted  of  January  16,  1783. 

from  July  13,  1782  to  April  5,  1783.  ^  First   published   in    Notes    and 

^  *He'    is   their   step-father,    Mr.  Queries,  (i\h  S.  v.  462. 
Flint.     Ante,  ii.  263,  n.  3. 

the 


270  To  the  Reve7'end  Dr.  Taylor.  [a.d.  1782. 

the  ignorant  are  always  trying  to  be  cunning  '.  To  do  business 
by  letters  is  very  difficult,  for  without  the  opportunity  of  verbal 
questions  much  information  is  seldom  obtained. 

I  received,  I  suppose,  by  the  coach  a  copy  of  Dunn's  will,  and 
an  abstract  of  Mr.  Flint's  (?)  ^  marriage  settlement.  By  whom 
they  were  sent  I  know  not.  The  copy  of  the  Will  is  so  worn, 
that  it  is  troublesome  to  open  it,  and  has  no  attestation  to  evince 
its  authenticity.  The  extract  is,  I  think,  in  Mr.  Flint's  own 
hand,  and  has  not  therefore  any  legal  credibility. 

What  seems  to  me  proper  to  be  done,  but  you  know  much 
better  than  I,  is  to  take  an  exemplification  ^  of  the  will  from  the 
registry.  We  are  then  so  far  sure.  This  will  I  entreat  you  to 
send.  If  it  be  clear  and  decisive  against  the  girls,  there  can  be 
no  farther  use  of  it.  If  you  think  it  doubtful,  send  it  to  Mr. 
Madox,  and  I  will  pay  the  fee. 

When  the  will  is  despatched,  the  marriage  settlement  is  to  be 
examined,  which  if  Mr.  Flint  refuses  to  shew,  he  gives  such 
ground  of  suspicion  as  will  justify  a  legal  compulsion  to  shew  it. 

It  may  perhaps  be  better  that  I  should  appear  busy  in  this 
matter  than  you,  and  if  you  think  it  best,  I  will  write  to  Lich- 
field that  a  copy  of  the  will  may  be  sent  to  you,  for  I  would 
have  you  read  it.  I  should  be  told  the  year  of  Mr.  Dunn's 
death. 

I  think  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Flint  somewhat  suspicious.  I 
have  however  not  yet  condemned  him  nor  would  irritate  him  too 
much,  for  perhaps  the  girls  must  at  last  be  content  with  what  he 
shall  give  them. 

My  letter,  which  you  shewed  to  Miss  Collier,  she  did  not 
understand,  but  supposed  that  I  charged  her  with  asking  money 
of  Mr.  Flint,  in  order  to  sue  him.  I  only  meant  that  her  pro- 
posal was  to  him  eventually  the  same,  and  was  therefore,  as  I 
called  it.  wild. 

'   '  Every  man  wishes  to  be  wise,  1774  visited  Mr.  Flint  at  Ashbourne, 

and   they   who   cannot  be  wise  are  Life,  v.  430. 

almost  always  cunning  .  .   .  nor  is  ^  The  only  definition  Johnson  gives 

caution    ever   so   necessary  as   with  of  cxempIificatio7i  in  his  Dictionary 

associates    or   opponents    of    feeble  is   as    it   is  here  used — 'a  copy;   a 

minds.'     The  Idler,  No  92.  transcript.' 


See    ante,  ii.  263.      Johnson    in 


I  hope 


Aetat.  73.]       To  the  Reverend  James  Compton. 


271 


I  hope  your  health  improves.  I  am  told  that  I  look  better 
and  better.  I  am  going,  idly  enough,  to  Brighthelmston.  I 
try,  as  I  would  have  you  do,  to  keep  my  body  open,  and  my 
mind  quiet. 

I  hope  my  attention  grows  more  fixed.  When  I  was  last  at 
your  house  I  began,  if  I  remember  right,  another  perusal  of  the 
Bible,  which  notwithstanding  all  my  disorders  I  have  read 
through  except  the  Psalms.  I  concluded  the  twenty  second  of 
last  month.  I  hope,  for  as  many  years  as  God  shall  grant  me, 
to  read  it  through  at  least  once  every  year  ^ 

Boswel's  Father  is  dead,  and  Boswel  wrote  me  word  that  he 

would  come  to  London  for  my  advice.     [The]  advice  which  I 

sent  him  is  to  stay  at  home  and  [busy]  himself  with  his  own 

affairs  ^     He  has  a  good  es^tate]   considerably   burthened    by 

settlements;  and  he  is  himself  in  debt.     But  if  his  wife  lives,  I 

think  he  will  be  prudent  ^.  _  o- 

I  am,  bir, 

Yours  affectiona[tely] 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  Oct.  4,  1782. 
To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourn,  Derbyshire. 


808. 

To  THE  Reverend  James  Compton'*. 


Sir, 


I  have  directed  Dr.  Vyse's  letter  to  be  sent  to  you,  that  you 
may  know  the  situation  of  your  business.     Delays  are  incident 


'  On  Easter  Eve,  1772,  Johnson 
recorded  : — '  I  resolved  last  Easter 
to  read  within  the  year  the  whole 
Bible,  a  very  great  part  of  which  I 
had  never  looked  upon.  I  read  the 
Greek  Testament  without  construing, 
and  this  day  concluded  the  Apo- 
calyse.'  Pr.  and  Med.,  p.  112.  A 
week  later  he  recorded  :  —  ' It  is  a 
comfort  to  me  that  at  last,  in  my 
sixty-third  year,  I  have  attained  to 
know  even  thus  hastily,  confusedly, 
and  imperfectly,  what  my  Bible  con- 
tains.'    lb.  p.  118. 

""  Boswell    wrote    to    Johnson    on 


August  30  to  say  that  his  father  had 
died  that  morning,  and  received  an 
answer  dated  September  7.  Life,  iv. 
154.  '  In  answer  to  my  next  letter,' 
continues  Boswell,  '  I  received  one 
from  him  dissuading  me  from  hasten- 
ing to  him,  as  1  had  proposed.'  John- 
son's advice  was,  no  doubt,  prudent, 
but  the  Life  of  fohjiso7i  is  all  the 
poorer  for  it.  He  commonly,  perhaps 
always,  spelt  Boswell  Boswel. 

^  She  died  in  June,  1789. 

"  First  published  in  Malone's  Bos- 
well, iv.  225. 

Compton  was  the  Librarian  of  the 

to 


272  To  the  Reverend  Geoi'ge  Strahan.     [A.D.1782. 

to  all  affairs ;  but  there  appears  nothing  in  your  case  of  either 
superciliousness  or  neglect.     Dr.  Vyse  seems  to  wish  you  well. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
Oct.  6,  1782.  Sam:  Johnson. 

To  the  Reverend  Mr.  Compton. 

809. 

c  To  THE  Reverend  George  Strahan  '. 

When  I  called  last  week,  to  do  a  little  business  in  New 
Street  ^,  I  found  the  difference  between  you  and  your  Father  still 
subsisting,  and  though  I  have  reason  to  think  you  sufficiently 
prejudiced  against  my  advice,  I  will,  without  much  anxiety 
about  my  reception,  suggest  some  reasons,  for  which,  in  my 
opinion,  you  ought  to  make  peace  as  soon  as  you  can. 

All  quarrels  grow  more  complicated  by  time,  and  as  they 
grow  more  complicated,  grow  harder  to  be  adjusted. 

When  a  dispute  is  made  publick  by  references  and  appeals, 
which  neither  your  Father  nor  you  have  enough  avoided, 
there  mingles  with  interest  or  resentment  a  foolish  feint  of  honour. 
Perhaps  each  part  will  yield,  were  not  each  ashamed. 

Your  dispute  has  already  gone  so  far,  that  the  first  concession 
ought  to  come  from  you,  since  you  may  without  any  disgrace 
yield  to  your  Father,  and  your  Father  will  hardly  yield  to  you, 
but  with  some  dishonour  to  both. 

Convent  of  the  Benedictines  in  which  p.  530.  Malone  in  a  note  gives 
Johnson  had  a  cell  appropriated  to  further  information.  See  ^<?J/,  Letter 
him  in  his  visit  to  Paris  in  1775.  of  April  19,  1783. 
Compton  came  over  to  England  '  and  '  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
renounced  the  errors  of  Popery.'  sion  of  Mr.  William  R.  Smith,  of 
Being  in  great  distress  he  called  on  Greatham  Moor,  West  Liss,  Hants. 
Johnson,  who  having  heard  his  story  -  New  Street,  Fetter  Lane, 'whither 
'with  the  warmest  expressions  of  in  February,  1770,  the  King's  print- 
tenderness  and  esteem  put  into  his  ing-house  was  removed  from  what  is 
hand  a  guinea,  assuring  him  that  he  still  called  Printing  House  Square.' 
might  expect  support  from  him  till  a  Croker.  In  1770  William  Strahan 
provision  for  him  could  be  found.  He  had  purchased  from  George  Eyre  'a 
furnished  him  with  decent  apparel,  shareof  the  patent  for  King's  Printer.' 
and  introduced  him  to  the  Bishop  of  Letters  of  Hume  to  Strahan,  p.  xliii. 
London,  who  licensed  him  to  preach  For  the  difference  between  the  father 
in  his  diocese.'     Hawkins's yfl/mj<7«,  and  son,  see  ante,  ii.  267. 

You 


Aetat.  73.]  To  JoIlU    Nukols.  273 

You  might  therefore  properly  make  the  first  advances,  even 
if  your  Father  were  in  the  wrong,  of  which,  if  I  understand  the 
question,  you  will  find  it  difficult  to  convict  him. 

When  a  man  is  asked  for  money  which  he  does  not  owe  he  has 
a  right  to  enquire,  why  the  demand  is  made. 

When  you  tell  him  that  you  ask  for  money  because  you  want 
it,  he  may  again  very  reasonably  enquire  why  you  are  in  want 
who  have  already  much  more  than  is  generally  appendant  to 
your  station. 

To  this  question  it  is  my  advice  that  you  give  a  calm,  decent, 
and  general  answer.  Neither  your  Friends  wish,  nor,  I  suppose, 
your  Father  wishes  that  you  should  show  bills  and  receipts, 
though  of  those  you  need  not  be  ashamed^  for  nobody  suspects 
your  expences  of  anything  vitious,  but  that  you  should  tell  in  a 
manly  and  liberal  way  why  your  income  falls  short  of  your  desires. 

With  a  general  account,  such  as  may  liberally  give  him  the 
victory,  your  Father  will  probably  be  satisfied,  and  this  account 
it  will  be  prudent  rather  to  write  than  to  give  in  person,  though 
to  a  written  account  there  may  be  objections.  You  will  use 
your  discretion. 

My  serious,  and  whatever  you  may  think^  my  friendly  advice 

is  that  you  make  haste  to  reconcihation.     Those  who  encourage 

either  to  persist,  mean  ill  to  one  of  you,  perhaps  without  meaning 

well  to  the  other,  or  without  much  malice  or  any  kindness  divert 

themselves  with  your  discord^  and  are  quietly  amused  by  guessing 

the  event.  ^  o- 

1  am,  bir, 

Your  most  humble  Servant, 

Brighthelmston  S  Oct.  10,  1782.  Sam  :  JOHNSON, 

To  the  Reverend  Mr.  Strahan  at  Islington,  London. 

810. 

c  To  John  Nichols  ^ 

While  I  am  at  Brighthelmston,  if  you  have  any  need  of 

'  Johnson  wrote  to  Boswell  : — '  I  ^  First   published   in   the    Gentle- 

came   to  Brighthelmston  in  a  state      wa«'^  i/^rg^a^-zV/^  for  1 784,  page  S93  ; 
of  so  much  weakness  that  I  rested      and  subsequently  in  part  in  the  Life, 
four  times  in  walking   between    the      iv.  161. 
inn  and  the  lodging.'    Life,  vi.  156. 

VOL.  IL  T  consulting 


2  74 


To  Mauritius  Lowe. 


[A.D.  1782. 


consulting  me,  Mr.  Strahan  will  do  us  the  favour  to  transmit  our 
papers  under  his  frank. 

I  have  looked  often  into  your  Anecdotes ',  and  you  will  hardly 
thank  a  lover  of  literary  history  for  telling  you  that  he  has  been 
informed  and  gratified.  I  wish  you  would  add  your  own  dis- 
coveries and  intelligence  to  those  of  Dr.  Rawlinson,  and  under- 
take the  Supplement  to  Wood  ^.     Think  on  it. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 
Brighthelmston,  Oct.  lo,  1782.  SaM  :   JOHNSON. 

To  Mr.  Nicol. 


811. 

o  To  Mauritius  Lowe  ^. 

oIR,  October  22,  1782. 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  good  that  has  befallen  you.  I 
always  told  you  that  it  would  come.  I  would  not,  however, 
have  you  flatter  yourself  too  soon  with  punctuality.  You  must 
not  expect  the  other  half  year  at  Christmas.  You  may  use  the 
money  as  your  needs  require  ;  but  .save  what  you  can. 

You  must  undoubtedly  write  a  letter  of  thanks  to  your  bene- 
factor in  your  own  name.     I  have  put  something  on  the  other 

side"*. 

I  am.  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  John  Nichols  published  in  1 782 
Anecdotes  of  William  Bowyer, 
Printer.  In  1S12-15  he  brought  out 
this  work,  recast  and  enlarged,  under 
the  title  of  Literary  Anecdotes  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century. 

'  Rawlinson  had  made  MS.  col- 
lections for  a  continuation  of  Wood's 
Athenae. 

■*  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well^  page  709. 

For  Mauritius  Lowe,  see  ante^  ii.  203. 

*  '  Amongst  the  papers  of  Mr.  Lowe 
was  found,  in  Dr.  Johnson's  hand- 
writing, the  following  draft  of  a 
letter  :— 


"My  Lord, 
The  allowance    which    you    are 
pleased    to    make    me,    I    received 

on  the  by  Mr.  Puget.    Of 

the  joy  which  it  brought  your  lord- 
ship cannot  judge,  because  you 
cannot  imagine  my  distress.  It  was 
long  since  I  had  known  a  morn- 
ing without  solicitude  for  noon,  or 
lain  down  at  night  without  foreseeing, 
with  terror,  the  distresses  of  the 
morning.  My  debts  were  small,  but 
many;  my  creditors  were  poor,  and 
therefore  troublesome.  Of  this  misery 
your  lordship's  bounty  has  given  me 
an  intermission.    May  your  lordship 

To 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  John  Nichols. 


275 


812. 

To  John  Nichols  '. 
Dear  Sir, 

You  somehow  forgot  the  advertisement  ^  for  the  new  edition. 
It  was  not  enclosed. 

Of  Gay's  Letters  I  see  not  that  any  use  can  be  made,  for  they 
give  no  information  of  any  thing.  That  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Philosophical  Society  is  something  ;  but  surely  he  could 
be  but  a  corresponding  member.  However,  not  having  his 
life  here,  I  know  not  how  to  put  it  in,  and  it  is  of  little 
importance  ^. 

What  will  the  Booksellers  give  me  for  this  new  edition  ?  I  know 
not  what  to  ask  "*.  I  would  have  24  sets  bound  in  plain  calf,  and 
figured  with  [the]  number  of  the  volumes.  For  the  rest  they 
may  please  themselves. 

I  wish.  Sir,  you  could  obtain  some  fuller  information  of  Jortin, 


live  long  to  do  much  good,  and  to  do 
for  many  what  you  have  done  for, 
my  Lord,  your  lordship's   &c., 

"M.  Lowe.'" 
Croker's  Boswell,  ed.  1844,  vii.  346. 

'  My  Lord '  was  probably  Lord 
Southwell. 

'  First  published  partly  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1785,  page 
II,  and  partly  in  the  Life,  iv.  36,  «. 
4,  161. 

^  The  brief  Preface  to  the  Lives 
Johnson,  in  accordance  with  the 
usage  of  the  time,  heads  Advertise- 
ment. 

^  The  Philosophical  Society  was 
probably  the  Spalding  Society,  '  a 
Society  of  Gentlemen  for  the  sup- 
porting of  mutual  Benevolence,  and 
their  Improvement  in  the  Liberal 
Sciences  and  Polite  Learning.'  Of 
this  Society  Nichols  gives  an  ac- 
count in  his  Literary  Anecdotes,  vi. 
28.  In  the  list  of  Members  we  find  : — 
'  John  Gay,  esq.  lepidissimus  Poeta ; 
October  31, 1728.  Died  1732.'/^.  p.  84. 


■*  On  December  7  of  this  year 
Johnson  wrote  to  Boswell : — '  Of  my 
Lives  of  the  Poets  they  have  printed 
a  new  edition  in  octavo,  I  hear  of 
three  thousand.'  Life,  iv.  157.  In 
Mr,  Alfred  Morrison's  Collection  of 
Autographs  I  have  seen  the  follow- 
ing curious  document : — 

'  Received  February  19,  1783,  of 
the  Proprietors  of  the  Lives  of  the 
Poets  by  the  hands  of  Thomas  Cadell 
One  Hundred  Pounds  for  Revising 
the  last  Edition  of  that  Work. 
^100  o  o  Sam.  Johnson.' 
(The  signature  alone  is  in  John- 
son's hand.) 

Below  this   receipt   is   pasted   on 
the  following  paper  in  his  writing  : — 
'  It  is  great  impudence  to  put 
Johnson's  Poets  on  the  back 
of  books  which  Johnson  neither 

recommended  nor  revised. 
He  recommended  only  Blackmore 
on  the  Creation  and  Watts.     How 
then  are  they'Johnson's  ?   This  is  in- 
decent.' 
T  2  Markland, 


276 


To   Willia77i  Strahan. 


[A.D.  1782. 


Markland,  and  Thirlby '.     They  were  three  contemporaries  of 
great  eminence.  j  ^^^  gir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

[Brighthelmstone],  Oct.  28,  1782-  ^AM:  JOHNSON. 

This  is  all  that  I  can  think  on,  therefore  send  it  to  the  press, 
and  fare  it  well.     Sam  :  JOHNSON. 

813. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
Brighthelmstone,  November  14,  1782.     Published  in  'Cci&  Life,  iv.  161. 


Sir, 


814. 

To  William  Strahan 


Your  kindness  gives  you  a  right  to  such  intelligence  relating 
to  myself  as  I  can  give  you. 


'  For  these  three  men  see  Life,  iv. 
161.  Jortin  is  said  to  be  the  author 
of  the  line,  Palmam  qui  7neruif  ferat. 

When  on  his  death-bed  he  was 
offered  some  nourishment  '  he  said 
with  great  composure  : — "  No,  I  have 
had  enough  of  everything."  A  worthy 
clergyman  asked  him  why  he  did  not 
pubhsh  his  Sermons.  "  They  shall 
sleep,"  he  rephed,  "till  I  sleep."' 
Nichols's  Lit.  Anec.  ii.  570. 

Of  Jeremiah  Markland  Nichols 
gives  a  long  account  in  LiL  Anec. 
iv.  272.  Porson  thought  so  highly 
of  him  as  a  scholar  that  '  he  went  to 
see  the  house  near  Dorking  where 
he  had  spent  his  later  years  and 
where  he  died.'  Table-Talk  of  S. 
Rogers,  ed.  1856,  p.  322.  In  his 
early  manhood,  when  the  vote  came 
on  before  the  Senate  at  Cambridge 
for  the  degradation  of  Bentley,  he 
might  have  '  saved  by  his  single 
voice  the  great  hero  of  literature 
from  the  unseemly  fate  that  awaited 
him.  But  in  the  heat  and  clamour 
of  that  day  the  voice  of  learning  had 
little  chance  of  being  heard.'  Monk's 
Life  of  Bentley,  ed.  1833,  ii.  59,  169. 


Of  Thirlby  Nichols  records  the 
following  anecdote  on  Johnson's 
authority.  ' "  He  went  through  my 
school,"  says  Mr.  Kilby,  "in  three 
years ;  and  his  self-conceit  was  cen- 
sured as  very  offensive.  He  thought 
he  knew  more  than  all  the  school." 
"  Perhaps,"  said  a  gentleman,  to 
whom  this  was  told,  "  he  thought 
rightly."'  Lit.  Anec.  iv.  264.  For 
his  insolence  towards  Bentley  see 
Monk's  Life  of  Bejitley,  i.  289 ;  ii. 
167.  He  supplied  Theobald  with 
emendations  of  Shakespeare's  text, 
of  which  the  following  is  one  of  the 
most  ingenious.  A  couplet  in 
Oberon's  song  in  A  Midsmmner- 
Nighfs  Dream,  Act  iv.  sc.  i,  used 
to  run  : — 
'  Dian's  bud,  or  Cupid's  flower 

Hath  such  force  and  blessed  power.' 
He  altered  it : — 

'Dian's  bud   o'er    Cupid's    flower, 
&c.' 
Johnson's  Shakespeare,  i.  152. 

^  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  R.  B.  Adam,  of  448 
Delaware  Avenue,  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
United  States. 

My 


Aetat.  73.]  To  the  Revereiid  Dr.   Taylor. 


277 


My  friends  all  tell  me  that  I  am  grown  much  better  since  my 
arrival  at  this  place.  I  do  not  for  my  own  part  think  myself 
well,  but  certainly  I  mend. 

I  shall  not  stay  here  above  a  week  longer,  and  indeed  it  is 
not  easy  to  tell  why  we  stay  so  long,  for  the  company  is  gone '. 

Last  Friday  or  Saturday  there  was  at  this  place  the  greatest 

take  of  herrings  that  has  been  ever  known.    The  number  caught 

was  eight   lasts,  which  at  eight    thousand  a  last,  make    eight 

hundred  thousand  ^.  ^  ^. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

Make  my  compliments  to  dear  Mrs.  Strahan. 

Brighthelmstone,  Nov.  14,  1782. 
To  William  Strahan,  Esq.,  M.P.,  London. 

815. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  December  7,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  156. 

816. 

^  ^  To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor^. 

Dear  Sir, 

Your  letter  contained  almost  an  answer  to  that  which  you 

had  not  received 

Take  great  care  of  your  health.     I  am  sorry  that  you  are  still 

subject  to  unprovoked   disorders ;  but  now  you  are  better,  be 

very  tender  of  yourself.     Had  you  been  costive  ?  or  had  any 


'  When  the  company  was  there 
Johnson  had  been  much  neglected. 
Life,  iv.  159,  fi.  3.  On  November 
20  Miss  Burney,  who  was  of  the 
party,  records  in  her  Diary : — '  Mrs. 
and  the  three  Miss  Thrales  and  my- 
self all  arose  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  "  by  the  pale  blink 
of  the  moon"  we  went  to  the  sea- 
side, where  we  had  bespoke  the 
bathing-women  to  be  ready  for  us, 
and  into  the  ocean  we  plunged.  We 
then    returned    home,    dressed    by 


candle-light,  and  as  soon  as  we  could 
get  Dr.  Johnson  ready  we  set  out 
upon  our  journey  in  a  coach  and  a 
chaise  and  arrived  in  Argyll  Street 
at  dinner  time.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  ii.  184.  See  ante,  ii.  123, 
71.  I. 

^  Johnson  must  have  meant  to 
write: — 'The  number  caught  was  a 
hundred  lasts.' 

^  Copied  from  the  facsimile  of  the 
original  in  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison's 
Catalogue  of  Autographs,  ii.  342. 

thing 


278  To    William  Strakan.  [a.d.  1782. 

thing  disturbed  you  ?     I  have  but  two  rules  for  you,  keep  your 
body  open,  and  your  mind  quiet. 

Sickness  concentrates  a  man's  attention  so  much  in  himself, 
that  he  thinks  little  upon  the  affairs  of  others '.  Now  I  have  a 
little  gleam  of  health,  I  have  the  business  of  the  Miss  Colliers 
almost  to  begin  :  I  do  not  know  what  it  is  that  Mr.  Flint  offers  ^ 
Make  me  as  much  master  of  the  business  as  you  can,  yet  I  am 
afraid  of  giving  you  trouble.  I  would  write  to  the  Miss  Colliers 
if  I  knew  how.  Shall  I  send  my  letter  under  cover  to  you,  or  to 
any  other  person  ? 

Miss  Collier  writes  well,  and  can  perhaps  tell  me  something  of 
importance.     Let  me  know  what  I  shall  do. 

Take  a  scrupulous  and  diligent  care  of  your  health,  that  we 
may  yet  have  a  little  comfort  in  each  other. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  affectionate, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  December  g,  1782. 
To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor,  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

817. 

To  William  StrahanI 
Sir, 

In  your  letter  there  is  no  need  of  alteration,  it  may  serve  its 
purpose  very  well  as  it  is,  but  if  you  change  any  thing,  I  think 
you  may  better  say  nothing  of  his  cloaths,  for  if  you  allow  him 
five  suits  in  two  years,  they  will  cost  near  £4.^  and  the  other 
£2$  will  easily  go  for  linen  shoes  and  all  other  parts  of  cloathing^ 

'  '  Depend  upon  it.  Sir,'  said  John-  Greatham  Moor,  West  Liss,  Hamp- 

son,  '  when  a  man  knows  he  is  to  be  shire. 

hanged  in  a  fortnight  it  concentrates  For  the  subject  of  the  letter  see 

his  mind  wonderfully.'     Life,  iii.  167.  aftte,  ii.  272.      That  it  should  have 

On  February  11,  1784,  he  wrote  to  come,  as  it  did,  into  the  possession 

Boswell  who  had  sent  him  a  Pamph-  of    the    son    was     scarcely    fair    to 

let  : — '  You     will     forgive     a     man  Johnson. 

struggling  with  disease  his  neglect  *  In  the  Life  of  Bishop  Porteus  is 

of  disputes,  politics  and  pamphlets.'  the  letter  of  a  poor  clergyman  written 

lb.  iv.  260.  in  1778.    For  42  years  he  had  been 

"  Ante,  ii.  270.  Curate    of    Wood    Plumpton,    near 

"•  From  the  original  in  the  posses-  Preston ;    '  where    I   have    led,'   he 

sion    of   Mr.  William    R.    Smith,  of  writes,    '  an    obscure    contemplative 

Suppose 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


279 


Suppose  you  concluded  your  letter  with  something  like 
this. 

You  express   your  desire  of  seeing  me,  and  therefore  I  think 

it   [word   omitted]  to  let   you  know,  that  whenever  you  bring 

with  you  that  respect  and  gratitude  to  which  I  am  entitled,  you 

shall  find  me  no  longer  ,..  rr     ^    ^  o 

Your  offended  &c. 

This  is  all  that  occurs,  except  that  perhaps  it  were  as  well  not 

to  insist  on  a  minute  knowledge  of  the  wife's  expences,  but  to 

blame  the  first  article  as  indistinct,  without  requiring  it  to  be 

reformed. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  Servant, 

Dec.  II,  17S2.  Sam:  Johnson. 

818. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Lady,  December  20,  1782. 

I  hope  the  worst   is  at  last  over.     I  had  a  very  good  night, 

and  slept  very  long.    You  can  hardly  think  how  bad  I  have  been 

while  you  were  in  all  your  altitudes,  at  the  Opera  ^,  and  all  the 

fine  places,  and  thinking  little  of  me.     Sastres  ^  has  been  very 

good.     Queeney  never  sent  me  a  kind  word.     I  hope  however 


life.  I  have  brought  up  six  sons  and 
six  daughters  to  men's  and  women's 
estates.  All  my  annual  income  is 
something  more  than  £,^0  a  year. 
Such  is  the  indigence  I  am  reduced 
to  at  present,  that  were  it  not  for 
religious  prospects  I  should  be 
wretched  beyond  the  utmost  energy 
of  language  to  express.'  Porteus's 
Works,  i.  49.  The  Vicar  of  Isling- 
ton was  every  year  to  spend  in 
clothes  alone  within  five  or  six  pounds 
of  this  Curate's  income.  Goldsmith 
spent  on  a  single  suit  twelve  guineas 
{Life,  ii.  83,  n.  3)  ;  but  a  clergyman 
in  his  dress  could  not  go  to  the  same 
height  of  extravagance  as  a  poet. 
'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  252. 


""  'Thursday  [December  19]  Mrs. 
Thrale  and  her  daughter  carried  me 
to  the  Opera  House.'  Mme.  D'Ar- 
blay's  Diary,  ii.  203.  A  few  days 
later  she  records : — '  I  went  in  the 
evening  to  call  on  Mrs.  Thrale,  and 
tore  myself  away  from  her  to  go  to 
Bolt  Court  to  see  Dr.  Johnson,  who 
is  very  unwell.  He  received  me  with 
great  kindness,  and  bade  me  come 
oftener,  which  I  will  try  to  contrive. 
He  told  me  he  heard  of  nothing  but 
me,  call  upon  him  who  would  [she 
had  lately  published  her  Cecilia\  ; 
and  though  he  pretended  to  growl 
he  was  evidently  delighted  for  me.' 
lb.  p.  211. 

^  The  Italian  master. 

to 


28o  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  [a.d.  1782. 

to  be  with   you  again  in  a  short  time,  and  shew  you  a  man 

again.  ^  ,_    , 

■  I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

819. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.       ^^^  35^  ^^32. 

In  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Co.'s  Auction  Catalogue  of  May  10,  1875, 
Lot  126  is  an  autograph  note  on  a  card  of  Johnson  to  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  dated  Dec.  26,  1782,  declining  an  invitation  on  account  of 
illness. 

On  Dec.  27  Miss  Burney  found  Dr.  Johnson  at  Mrs.  Thrale's  house, 
and  found  him  'very  comic  and  good-humoured.  Susan  Thrale  had 
just  had  her  hair  turned  up  and  powdered,  and  has  taken  to  the  womanly 
robe.  Dr.  Johnson  sportively  gave  her  instructions  how  to  increase 
her  consequence,  and  to  "  take  upon  her  "  properly.  "  Begin,"  said  he, 
"Miss  Susy,  with  something  grand — something  to  surprise  mankind. 
Let  your  first  essay  in  life  be  a  warm  censure  of  Cecilia.''''  Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  215.  Miss  Burney  was  at  the  dinner  at  Sir 
Joshua's  the  following  day.     lb.  p.  216. 

820. 

To  THE  Reverend  Thomas  Wilson. 
[London],  December  31,  1782.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  162. 

821. 

T-.  c-  _      To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 

Dear  Sir, 

Your  last  little  note  was  very  unsatisfactory.     That  a  silly 

timorous  unskilful  Girl  has  behaved  improperly,  is  a  poor  reason 

for  refusing  to  tell  me  what  expectations  have  been  raised  by 

the  will,  and  what  questions  I  must  ask  the  Lawyers,  questions 

which  if  you  do  not  like  to  answer  them,  I  must  ask  elsewhere, 

and  I  am  unwilling  to  mingle  this  affair  with  any  name  that 

you  may  hear  with  disgust  ^. 

'  First    published   in    Notes    and      Collier,  and  the  name   that  Taylor 

Queries,  6lh  S.  v.  462.  might  hear  with  disgust  that  of  Mr. 

'  The  silly  girl  was  no  doubt  Miss      Langley.  Ante,  i.347,  and/<?j-/,p.282. 

This, 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  John  Nichols. 


281 


This,  my  dear  Sir,  is  the  last  day  of  a  very  sickly  and  melancholy 

year '.     Join  your  prayers  with  mine,   that    the  next    may  be 

more  happy  to  us  both.     I  hope  the  happiness  which  I  have 

not  found  in  this  world,  will  by  infinite  mercy  be  granted  in 

another. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

Dec.  31,  1782. 
To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


822. 


Sir  To  John  Nichols  \  Jan.  10, 1783, 

I  am  much  obliged  by  your  kind  communication  of  your 
account  of  Hinkley^  I  knew  Mr.  Carte  as  one  of  the  Preben- 
daries of  Lichfield,  and  for  some  time  Surrogate  of  the  Chan- 
cellor. Now  I  will  put  you  in  a  way  of  shewing  me  more 
kindness.  I  have  been  confined  by  ilness  [sic]  a  long  time,  and 
sickness  and  solitude  make  tedious  evenings.     Come  sometimes, 

and  see,  Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 

To  Mr.  Nichol.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 


'  On  his  birthday  in  1781  (Sep- 
tember 18)  he  had  recorded: — 'As 
I  came  home  from  church  I  thought 
I  had  never  begun  any  period  of  Hfe 
so  placidly.'    Pr.  and  Med.  p.  198. 

*  First  published  in  Nichols's 
Literary  Anecdotes,  ii.  551,  and  com- 
pared by  me  with  the  original  in  the 
British  Museum.  It  is  possible  that 
this  letter  is  misdated  1783  instead 
of  1784,  as  by  January  10,  1783, 
Johnson,  though  ill,  had  not  been 
long  confined  to  the  house.  On  the 
4th  he  had  dined  at  Dr.  Bumey's. 
'  He  was  very  ill,'  writes  Miss  Bur- 
ney,  '  and  only  from  an  extreme  of 
kindness  did  he  come.  All  dinner 
time   he   hardly  opened   his   mouth 


but  to  repeat  to  me  : — "  Ah  !  you 
little  know  how  ill  I  am."  He  was 
excessively  kind  to  me  in  spite  of 
all  his  pain.  He  was  so  ill  that  after 
dinner  he  went  home.'  This  was 
unfortunate,  as  in  the  evening  Dr. 
Parr  came.  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
ii.  227. 

^  Nichols  published  in  1782,  The 
History  and  Antiquities  of  Hinckley 
in  Leicestershire.  Lit.  Anec.  vi.  632. 
In  his  History  of  Leicestershire,  ii. 
168,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Carte  is  praised 
as  'a  most  judicious  antiquary.' 
Carte  was  admitted  Prebendary  of 
Lichfield  in  1682.  Le  Neve's  Fast. 
Ecc.  Ang.  i.  629. 

To 


282  To  the  Reverend  Dr.   Taylor.         [a.d.  1783. 

823. 

To  THE  Reverend  Ur.  Taylor  ^ 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  for  some  time  been  labouring  under  very  great 
disorder  of  Body,  and  distress  of  Mind.  I  wish  that  in  our 
latter  days  we  may  give  some  comfort  to  each  other.  Let  us  at 
least  not  be  angry,  nor  suppose  each  other  angry.  We  have  no 
time  to  lose  in  petulance.  I  beg  you  not  to  take  amiss  that  I 
trouble  you  once  more  about  the  Colliers.  I  have  but  you  and 
Mr.  Langley  to  consult,  and  him  I  never  have  consulted,  because 
you  dislike  him  ^ 

I  would  shew  the  Lawyers  the  papers,  but  that  I  know  not 
what  questions  to  ask  nor  can  state  the  case,  till  I  am  informed 
with  regard  to  some  particulars  ^. 

What  do  Miss  Colliers  suppose  will  be  discovered  in  the  writings? 

Had  Mr.  Flint  a  son  by  their  Mother  ?  I  think  he  has.  What 
had  he  with  their  Mother?  I  think  about  ;^200  a  year.  What 
do  they  ask  from  Mr.  Flint  ? 

What  does  he  offer  them  ?  This  you  have  told  me,  but  my 
memory  is  not  distinct  about  it,  and  I  know  not  how  to  find  your 
letter.     Tell  me  again. 

All  that  has  a  bad  appearance  on  Flint's  part,  is  his  requisition 
of  a  discharge  from  future  claims.  If  they  have  no  claims,  what 
is  the  discharge  ?     Yet  this  may  be  only  unskilfulness  in  him. 

I  think  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Mrs.  Flint's  estate 
could  be  settled  by  her  father  exclusively  upon  Collier's  children, 
or  that  she  should  be  advised  at  her  marriage  with  Mr.  Flint  to 
debar  herself  from  providing  for  her  future  children,  whatever 
they  might  be,  in  their  due  proportions. 

Do  answer  this,  and  add  what  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  know, 
and  I  hope  to  trouble  you  no  more  about  it.  When  I  have 
your  answer  I  will  transact  with  Mr.  Flint  and  Miss  Collier  ;  or 
with  as  little  trouble  to  you  as  I  can. 

You  and  I  have  lived  on  together  to  the  time  of  sickness  and 
weakness.     We    are    now   beginning    another   year ;    may   the 

'  First  published  in  Notes  and  Queries^  6th  S.  v.  462. 
-  Ante^  ii.  280,  tt.  2.  '  Anic  ii.  263,  269. 

merciful 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  the  Reverend  George  Strahan. 


283 


merciful  God  protect  us  both.     Let  us  not  neglect  our  salvation, 
but  help  each  other  forward  in  our  way  as  well  as  we  can. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  affectionate 
London,  Jan.  16,  1783.  SaM:   JoHNSON. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


Sir, 


824. 


To  THE  Reverend  George  Strahan  '. 


I  had  very  lately  a  visit  from  Mr.  Strahan,  our  talk  was  of 

you,  and  I  am  sure  he  will  tell  you  that  I  have  never  been  your 

enemy.     What  passed  is  too  long  to  be  written,  but  if  you  will 

call  on  me  to-morrow  in  Bolt  court,  where  I  shall  be  in  the 

afternoon  on  purpose  to  receive  you,  I  hope  that  Peace  may  be 

made. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Thursday,  Jan.  16,  1783.  Sam  :   JOHNSON. 

825. 

To  THE  Reverend  George  Strahan^. 
Sir,  [?  January,  1783.] 

You  seem  to  suppose  that  your  Father  had  some  influence 
on  my  Letter.     You  are  utterly  mistaken.     He  knows  nothing 


'  From  the  original  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mr.  William  R.  Smith, 
Greatham  Moor,  West  Liss,  Hamp- 
shire. For  the  subject  of  the  Letter, 
see  mite,  ii.  272.  On  the  back  is 
written,  no  doubt  in  George  Strahan's 
hand  :  '  Mr.  G.  Strahan  presents  his 
best  Respects  to  Dr.  Johnson,  is 
much  obliged  to  him  for  any  service 
he  may  have  done  him,  and  will 
wait  upon  him  To-morrow  according 
to  his  Appointment. 

'Islington,  January  16,  1783.' 

^  From  the  original  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mr.  William  R.  Smith, 
Greatham  Moor,  West  Liss,  Hamp- 


shire.    The  letter  is  imperfect. 

The  following  mention  of  George 
Strahan  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  I 
have  only  discovered  since  my  earlier 
notes  were  in  type  : — PVanklin  wrote 
to  W.  Strahan  on  June  10,  1763  : — 
'  Tell  me  whether  George  is  to  be 
a  Church  or  Presbyterian  parson. 
I  know  you  are  a  Presbyterian  your- 
self; but  then  I  think  you  have  more 
sense  than  to  stick  him  into  a  priest- 
hood that  admits  of  no  promotion. 
If  he  was  a  dull  lad  it  might  not  be 
amiss,  but  George  has  parts,  and 
ought  to  aim  at  a  Mitre.'  Franklin's 
Works,  ed.  1887,  iii.  240, 

of 


284 


To  Joseph  Cradock. 


[A.D.1783. 


of  it.  My  reason  for  writing  was,  if  I  had  done  any  mischief  to 
undo  it  as  far  as  I  could  by  good  counsel.  You  have  done  what 
I  wished  to  be  done,  and  I  have  nothing  more  to  recommend. 
Of  promises  I  know  nothing,  and  have  nothing  to  say. 

The  conference  may  perhaps  as  well  be  forborn  [sic],  but  if 
must  be,  it  will  probably  be  made  by  the  pressure  of  others 
shorter  and  more  moderate  ;  and  may  therefore  do  less  harm, 
if  it  does  no  good. 

[A  part  of  the  letter  cut  off.] 
Debts  of  kindness  there  may  be,  but  surely  those  debts  are 
not  very  niggardly  paid,  when  nothing  is  required  but  to  show 
that  they  are  wanted. 

I  flatter  myself  that  by  this  time  peace  and  content  are  restored 
among  you,  if  not,  I  wish  I  could  recal  [sic]  them. 

I  am.  Sir, 

Your  humble  Servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

826. 

To  Joseph  Cradock  '. 

Jan.  20,  1783. 

Mr,  Johnson  is  very  glad  of  any  intelligence,  and  much  obliged 

by  Mr.  Cradock's  favour  and  attention.     The  book  which  he  has 

now  sent  shall  be  taken  care  of ;  but  of  a  former  book  mentioned 

in  the  note  Mr,  Johnson  has  no  remembrance,  and  can  hardly 

think  he  ever  received  it,  though  bad  health  may  possibly  have 

made  him  negligent. 

To  Mr.  Cradock. 


'  First  published  in  Literary  atid      and  I  never  was  able  to  make  out  what 


Miscellaneous  Afe/noirs,  by  Joseph 
Cradock,  1828,  i.  243.  Cradock  says 
that  he  had  borrowed  for  Johnson 
from  Lord  Harborough  '  a  folio 
volume  of  manuscripts,  magnificently 
bound,  which  contained  poems  by 
James  I  and  others.'  On  receiving 
Johnson's  letter,  he  consulted  Stccvens 
who  said  : — '  That  then  is  the  book 
which  now  lies  under  his  inkstand  ; 
it  is  neatly  packed  up   and  sealed, 


it  was.'  Cradock  was  at  Marseilles 
when  the  news  of  Johnson's  death 
reached  him.  He  at  once  wrote  to 
Reynolds  and  Cadell  about  the  book. 
They  replied  that  they  had  found  it 
unopened  on  the  very  spot  where 
Stecvens  had  seen  it,  and  they  had 
returned  it  to  Lord  Harborough. 
For  a  brief  notice  of  Cradock,  see 
Life,  iii.  38. 

To 


Aetat.  73.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.   Taylor.  285 

827. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 
Dear  Sir, 

I  am  glad  that  your  friends  are  not  among  the  promoters 
of  equal  representation,  which  I  consider  as  specious  in  theory, 
but  dangerous  in  experiment,  as  equitable  in  itself,  but  above 
human  wisdom  to  be  equitably  adjusted,  and  which  is  now  pro- 
posed only  to  distress  the  government  ^. 

An  equal  representation  can  never  form  a  constitution,  because 
it  can  have  no  stability ;  for  whether  you  regulate  the  repre- 
sentation by  numbers  or  by  property,  that  which  is  equal  to-day, 
will  be  unequal  in  a  week. 

To  change  the  constituent  parts  of  government  must  be 
always  dangerous,  for  who  can  tell  where  changes  will  stop  ? 
A  new  representation  will  want  the  reverence  of  antiquity,  and 
the  firmness  of  Establishment.  The  new  senate  will  be  con- 
sidered as  mushrooms  which  springing  in  a  day  may  be  blasted 
in  a  night. 

What  will  a  parliament  chosen  in  any  new  manner,  whether 
more  or  less  numerous,  do  which  is  not  done  by  such  parlia- 
ments as  we  have  ?  Will  it  be  less  tumultuous,  if  we  have  more, 
or  less  mercenary,  if  we  have  fewer  ?  There  is  no  danger  that 
the  parliament  as  now  chosen  should  betray  any  of  our  important 
rights,  and  that  is  all  that  we  can  wish. 

If  the  scheme  were  more  reasonable,  this  is  not  a  time  for 


'  First    published    in    Notes  and  Horace  Walpole,  who   belonged   to 

Queries,  6th  S.  v.  481.  the    same    party  among  the  Whigs 

^  On  May  7  in  the  previous  year  as   those   described   by  Johnson   as 

the  younger  Pitt  had  moved  for  a  Taylor's  friends,  wrote  on  the  mor- 

Committee     to     enquire      into     the  row  of  Pitt's  defeat  : — '  The   object 

present  state  of  the  representation,  of  altering  the  Representation  I  think 

and    had    been    defeated     by    only  most   dangerous.     We  know  pretty 

twenty  votes.    Pari.  Hist.  xxii.  1416.  well  what  good  or  evil   the  present 

On  the  same  day  in  the  next  year  state  of  the  House  of  Commons  can 

(1783)  he  brought  forward  a  motion  do,    what    an    enlargement     might 

for  a  Reform  in  Parliament.     It  was  achieve,  no  man  can  tell.'    Letters, 

lost   by    144   votes.     lb.   xxiii.   827.  viii.  362. 

innovation. 


286 


To  Sir  Joshua  Reyriolds. 


[AD.  1783. 


innovation.     I  am  afraid  of  a  civil  war.     The  business  of  every 
wise  man  seems  to  be  now  to  keep  his  ground '. 

I  am  very  glad  you  are  coming. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

Jan.  21,  1783. 
To  the  Reverend  D'*  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

828. 

To  Miss  Lawrence. 
Bolt-court,  February  4,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  144,  71.  2. 


Sir, 


829. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds' 


Mr.  Mason's  address  to  you  deserves  no  great  praise  ^ ;  it 
is  lax  without  easiness,  and  familiar  without  gaiety.  Of  his  trans- 
lation I  think  much  more  favourably,  so  far  as  I  have  read,  which 
is  not  a  great  part.  I  find  him  better  than  exact ;  he  has  his 
author's  distinctness  and  clearness  without  his  dryness  and 
sterility  ^ 


'  Burke  speaking  about  Reform  of 
Parliament,  said  : — '  Too  dangerous 
an  experiment  to  risk.  Not  any  re- 
form proposed  yet  that  did  not  seem 
to  him  highly  hazardous.  The  least 
exceptionable  that  of  Lord  Chatham's 
"  adding  fifty  Knights  of  the  shire  "  ; 
but  this,  as  well  as  the  rest  already 
proposed,  not  to  be  thought  upon  in 
such  times  as  these,  or  perhaps  ever.' 
Mr.  Burke's  Table- Talk,  Misc.  of  the 
Philobibhm  Society,  vii.  52.  Gibbon 
wrote  on  May  30,  1792  : — '  If  you  do 
not  resist  the  spirit  of  innovation  in 
the  first  attempt,  if  you  admit  the 
smallest  and  most  specious  change 
in  our  parliamentary  system,  you  are 
lost.'  Misc.  Works,  i.  349.  In  the 
same  year  Fox  said  '  he  might  be 
asked,  why  his  name  was  not  on  the 


list  of  the  Society  for  Reform.  His 
reason  was,  that  though  he  saw 
great  and  enormous  grievances  he 
did  not  see  the  remedy.'  Moore's 
Life  of  Sheridan,  ed.  1826,  ii.  182. 

""  First  published  in  Leslie  and 
Taylor's  Life  of  Reynolds,  ii.  392. 

^  Mason  translated  into  English 
verse  Du  Fresnoy's  Latin  poem  De 
Arte  Graphica,  prefixing  in  verse 
An  Epistle  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
Reynolds  illustrated  the  translation 
with  a  series  of  notes. 

'^  'The  version  of  Fresnoy  I  think 
the  finest  translation  I  ever  saw.  It 
is  a  most  beautiful  poem,  extracted 
from  as  dry  and  prosaic  a  parcel  of 
verses  as  could  be  put  together.' 
Walpole's  Letters,  viii.  73. 

As 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Sir  Joskjta  Reynolds. 


287 


As  I  suppose  you  have  lost  your  Lives  I  desire  you  to  accept 
of  these  volumes,  and  to  keep  them  somewhere  out  of  harm's 
way,  that  you  may  sometimes  remember  the  writer '. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

February  19,  1783. 


830. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  ^. 
Sir,  March  4,  1783. 

I  have  sent  you  back  Mr.  Crabbe's  poem,  which  I  read  with 
great  delight.     It  is  original,  vigorous,  and  elegant. 

The  alterations  which  I  have  made  I  do  not  require  him  to 
adopt,  for  my  lines  are,  perhaps,  not  often  better  [than]  his 
own  ;  but  he  may  take  mine  and  his  own  together,  and  perhaps 
between  them  produce  something  better  than  either  ^.  He  is  not 
to  think  his  copy  wantonly  defaced  ;  a  wet  sponge  will  wash  all 
the  red  lines  away,  and  leave  the  pages  clean. 

His  Dedication  will  be  least  liked :  it  were  better  to  contract 


'  Johnson  had  probably  given 
Reynolds  the  first  four  volumes  of 
the  Lives,  when  they  appeared  in 
1779.  In  assuming  that  he  had  lost 
them  he  has  perhaps  a  pleasant  hit 
at  his  loss  of  Goldsmith's  epitaph. 
A?tie,  i.  407.  The  original  of  this 
Letter,  together  with  the  ten  volumes 
whole  bound  in  calf  which  had  ac- 
companied them,  was  sold  for  ;/^i  2  1 5^-. 
by  Messrs.  Sotheby  &  Co.  on  May 
10,  1875  (Lot  100). 

-  Published  in  Croker's  Boswell, 
page  716,  and  in  Crabbe's  Works, 
ed.  1834,  ii.  12. 

In  1780  Crabbe  had  come  up  to 
London  with  three  pounds  in  his 
pocket,  as  a  Literary  Adventurer, 
and  for  some  months  had  lived  a 
life  of  baffled  hope.  Rejected  by  the 
publishers,  his  last  shilling  gone,  he 


wrote  to  Burke.  '  He  was  "  a  made 
man  "  from  that  hour.'  Burke  spoke 
of  him  to  Reynolds.  '  He  has  the 
mind  and  feelings  of  a  gentleman,' 
he  said.  At  Sir  Joshua's  table  he 
met  Johnson;  and  a  few  days  after- 
wards he  called  on  him  in  Bolt 
Court.  '  Never  fear,'  said  Johnson, 
'  putting  the  strongest  and  best 
things  you  can  think  of  into  the 
mouth  of  your  speaker,  whatever 
may  be  his  condition.'  Reynolds,  in 
forwarding  to  Crabbe  Johnson's  letter, 
said :— *  If  you  knew  how  cautious 
Dr.  Johnson  was  in  giving  com- 
mendation, you  would  be  well  satis- 
fied with  the  portion  dealt  to  you  in 
his  letter.'  Crabbe's  Works,  i.  91- 
100 ;  ii.  12. 

^  Of  these  alterations  Boswell  gives 
a  specimen.    Life,  iv.  175. 

it 


2  88  To  Joseph  Fowke.  [a.d.itss. 

it  into  a  short  sprightly  address  ^    I  do  not  doubt  of  Mr.  Crabbe's 

success. 

I  am.  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

831. 

To  Dr.  Scott. 

In  Messrs.  Christie  and  Co's  Auction  Catalogue  of  June  5,  1888,  Lot 
52  is  a  Letter  of  Johnson  to  Dr.  Scott  [afterwards  Lord  Stowell],  one 
page  quarto,  dated  March  4,  1783.  'Asking  him  to  give  employment 
to  a  young  man  for  whom  he  is  interested ;  and  saying,  "  He  is  not 
without  literature,  and  I  hope  he  will  be  diligent."  ' 

It  is  very  likely  that  the  young  man  was  Crabbe,  for  whom  his  friends 
were  seeking  for  employment.  Burke  was  struck  with  his  fund  of 
general  knowledge.  '  Mr.  Crabbe,'  he  said  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
'appears  to  know  something  of  every  thing.'     Crabbe's  JVorks,  i.  97. 

832. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[London],  April  12,  1783.     Published  in  the  Zt/e,  iv.  201. 

833. 

To  James  Barry. 

[London],  April  12,  1783.     Published  in  the  Zt/e,  iv.  202. 

834. 

To  Joseph  Fowke  ^ 
Dear  Sir,  April  19, 1783. 

To  shew  you  that  neither  length  of  time,  nor  distance  of 

place,  withdraws  you  from  my  memory,  I  have  sent  you  a  little 

present  ^  which  will  be  transmitted  by  Sir  Rob.  Chambers*. 

To  your  former  letters  I  made  no  answer,  because  I  had  none 

'  Neither  Dedication  nor  Address  For  an  account  of  Joseph  Fowke, 

was   adopted.     Crabbe's  Works,   ii.  who  was  in  India,  see  ante,  i.  409. 

13,  «.  I.  ■'No  doubt  his  Lives  of  the  Poets. 

"  First     published     in     Original  ''  One  of  the   Judges   in   the   Su- 

Letters,    ed.    by    Rebecca    Warner,  preme  Court.    Ante,  ii.  263,  «.  4. 
1817,  page  207. 

to 


Aetat.  73.]  To  JosepJl    Fowkc.  289 

to  make.  Of  the  death  of  the  unfortunate  man  ',  I  believe 
Europe  thinks  as  you  think  ;  but  it  was  past  prevention ;  and  it 
was  not  fit  for  me  to  move  a  question  in  public  which  I  was  not 
qualified  to  discuss,  as  the  enquiry  could  then  do  no  good  ;  and 
I  might  have  been  silenced  by  a  hardy  denial  of  facts,  which,  if 
denied,  I  could  not  prove. 

Since  we  parted,  I  have  suffered  much  sickness  of  body  and 
perturbation  of  mind.  My  mind,  if  I  do  not  flatter  myself,  is 
unimpaired,  except  that  sometimes  my  memory  is  less  ready ; 
but  my  body,  though  by  nature  very  strong,  has  given  way  to 
repeated  shocks. 

Gemta  laba?it,  vastos  qtiatit  ceger  anhelitiis  artns  ^.  This  line 
might  have  been  written  on  purpose  for  me.  You  will  see, 
however,  that  I  have  not  totally  forsaken  literature.  I  can 
apply  better  to  books  than  I  could  in  some  more  vigorous  parts 
of  my  life,  at  least  than  I  did ;  and  I  have  one  more  reason  for 
reading ;  that  time  has,  by  taking  away  my  companions,  left  me 
less  opportunity  of  conversation  ■'.  I  have  led  an  inactive  and 
careless  life  ;  it  is  time  at  last  to  be  diligent.  There  is  yet  pro- 
vision to  be  made  for  eternity. 

'  Nuncomar.    Ante,  i.  410,  n.  i,  before  the  date  of  this  Letter,  says  : — 

'  '  But  each  vast  limb  moves  stiff  '  I  found  him  in  his  arm-chair  by  the 

and  slow  with  age,  fire-side,  before  which  a  few  apples 

And  thick  short  pantings  shake  were  laid.    He  was  reading.    I  asked 

the  lab'ring  sage.'  him  what  book  he  had  got.     He  said 

C.  Pitt.     A£neid,  v.  432.  the  History  of  Birmingham.    Local 

^  In  1763   Johnson    said  to  Bos-  histories,  I  observed,  were  generally 

well : — 'Sir,  in  my  early  years  I  read  dull.    "  It  is  true.  Sir  ;  but  this  has 

very  hard.    It  is  a  sad  reflection  but  a  peculiar  merit  with  me;  for  I  passed 

a  true  one,  that    I  knew  almost  as  some  of  my  early  years,  and  married 

much  at  eighteen  as  I  do  now.'   Life,  my    wife    there."     I    supposed    the 

i.  445.    In  1766  he  wrote  to  Langton:  apples  were  preparing  as  medicine. 

— '  I  continue  to  rise  tolerably  well,  "  Why,  no.  Sir ;    I  believe  they  are 

and  read   more   than   I  did.'    lb.  ii.  only  there  because  I  want  something 

20.    In  1767  he  told  the  King  that  to  do.    These  are  some  of  the  soli- 

'  he   thought    more    than    he   read ;  tary   expedients    to   which    we    are 

that  he  had  read  a  great  deal  in  the  driven   by   sickness.      I    have    been 

early  part   of    his   life,    but    having  confined  this  week  past  ;    and  here 

fallen  into  ill  health,  he  had  not  been  you   find    me   roasting    apples,   and 

able  to  read  much    compared   with  reading    the    History   of  Birtning- 

others.'    lb.  ii.  36.    Malone,  who  had  ham  " '    Prior's  Malone,  p.  92. 

called  on  him  two  or  three  months 

VOL.  II.  U  Let 


290  To  the  Company  of  Mercers.         [a.d.  1783. 

Let  me  know,  dear  Sir,  what  you  are  doing.  Are  you  accu- 
mulating gold,  or  picking  up  diamonds  ?  Or  are  you  now  sated 
with  Indian  wealth,  and  content  with  what  you  have?  Have 
you  vigour  for  bustle,  or  tranquillity  for  inaction  ?  Whatever 
you  do,  I  do  not  suspect  you  of  pillaging  or  oppressing  ;  and 
shall  rejoice  to  see  you  return  with  a  body  unbroken,  and  a  mind 
uncorrupted. 

You  and  I  had  hardly  any  common  friends  ;  and  therefore  I 
have  few  anecdotes  to  relate  to  you.  Mr.  Levet,  who  brought 
us  into  acquaintance,  died  suddenly  at  my  house  last  year,  in 
his  seventy-eighth  year,  or  about  that  age.  Mrs.  Williams,  the 
blind  lady,  is  still  with  me,  but  much  broken  by  a  very  weari- 
some and  obstinate  disease.  She  is,  however,  not  likely  to  die  ; 
and  it  would  delight  me  if  you  would  send  her  some  petty  token 
of  your  remembrance.     You  may  send  me  one  too. 

Whether  we  shall  ever  meet  again  in  this  world,  who  can  tell  ? 

Let  us,  however,  wish  well  to  each  other :  prayers  can  pass  the 

Line  and  the  Tropics  \ 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  sincerely^, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

835. 

To  THE  Worshipful  Company  of  the  Mercers^. 
Gentlemen, 

At  the  request  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  James  Compton,  who 
now  solicits  your  votes  to  be  elected  Under  Master  of  St.  Paul's 
School,  I  testify  with  great  sincerity,  that  he  is,  in  my  opinion, 
a  man  of  abilities  sufficient,  and  more  than  sufficient,  for  the 
duties  of  the  office  for  which  he  is  a  candidate. 

I  am.  Gentlemen, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  April  19,  1783.  ^AM  :  JOHNSON. 

'  Prayers    apparently  would   take  '  Yours  sincerely.' 

the  longer  course  round  the  Cape  of  ^  First     published     in      Malone's 

Good  Hope.  Boswell.      For    Mr.    Compton    see 

""  No  other  letter  of  Johnson's  ends  ante,  ii,  271. 

To 


Astat.  73.]  To  the  Earl  of  Dartmo7itli. 


291 


836. 

To  THE  Earl  of  Dartmouth'.      .     ., 
My  Lord,  April  25, 1783. 

The  bearer,  Mr.  Desmoulins,  has  persuaded  himself  that 
some  testimonial  from  me  will  be  useful  to  him  in  his  application 
to  your  Lordship,  and  I  hope  that  what  I  yield  merely  to  his 
importunity  will  not  be  imputed  to  any  vain  conceit  of  my  own 
importance. 

He  desires  indeed  nothing  to  be  said  but  what  is  true ;  that 
he  is  not  in  difficulties  by  his  own  fault ;  that  he  has  a  brother 
and  sister  in  great  distress,  and  that  if  he  should  by  your  Lord- 
ship's favour  now  obtain  any  little  employment,  he  will,  I  hope, 
do  the  business  faithfully,  and  use  the  income  properly. 
I  am,  my  Lord, 

Your  Lordship's  most  obedient 

and  most  humble  servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 


837. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dear   Madam,  London,  [Thursday]  May-day,  1783. 

I  am  glad  that  you  went  to  Streatham,  though  you  could 


'  First  published  in  the  Reports 
of  the  Historical  Mattiiscripts  Co?n- 
mission,  volume  xi,  appendix  v,  page 

447- 

The  Earl  of  Darmouth  on  April  9 
had  been  made  Lord  Steward  of  the 
Household.  Book  of  Dignities,  ed. 
1890,  p.  290.  Johnson  might  have 
made  his  acquaintance  at  the  time 
of  the  Cock  Lane  Ghost,  of  which, 
according  to  Horace  Walpole  (Z^Z/dTJ', 
iii.  481),  'the  Earl  was  one  of  the 
two  great  patrons.'  Walpole  de- 
scribes him  as  sitting  '  in  the  odour 
of  devotion '  at  Dr.  Dodd's  Chapel. 
lb.  p.  282.  Cunningham  says  in  a 
note  on  this  passage  : — '  William 
Legge,  second  Earl  of  Dartmouth 
(died    1801),    the    same    of    whom 


Richardson  said,  he  would  have  been 
called  the  living  Sir  Charles  Grandi- 
son,  had  he  not  been  a  Methodist ; 
and  the  peer  not  too  proud  to  pray, 
celebrated  by  Cowper.' 

-  Piossi  Letters,  ii.  255. 

Mrs.  Piozzi  publishes  a  letter 
written  by  her  at  Bath  on  Good 
Friday,  in  which  she  says,  '  Harriet 
is  dead ;  Cicely  is  dying,'  and  that 
she  was  hurrying  up  to  London. 
Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  253.  '  Dear 
Harriet,'  she  says,  'died  of  measles, 
hooping-cough  and  strumous  swell- 
ings in  the  neck  and  throat.'  Hay- 
ward's  Piozzi,  i.  271.  Why  she  had 
left  her  dying  child,  and  the  other 
who  was  thought  to  be  dying,  to 
strangers   to    nurse    she   forgets    to 


U  2 


not 


292  To  Mrs.   Thralc.  [a.d.itss. 

not  save  the  dear  pretty  little  girl.  I  loved  her,  for  she  was 
Thrale's  and  your's,  and  by  her  dear  father's  appointment  in 
some  sort  mine ' :  I  love  you  all,  and  therefore  cannot  without 
regret  see  the  phalanx  broken,  and  reflect  that  you  and  my 
other  dear  girls  are  deprived  of  one  that  was  born  your  friend. 
To  such  friends,  every  one  that  has  them,  has  recourse  at  last, 
when  it  is  discovered,  and  discovered  it  seldom  fails  to  be,  that 
the  fortuitous  friendships  of  inclination  or  vanity  are  at  the 
mercy  of  a  thousand  accidents  ^.  But  we  must  still  our  disquiet 
with  remembering  that,  where  there  is  no  guilt,  all  is  for  the  best. 
I  am  glad  to  hear  that  Cecily  is  so  near  recovery. 

For  some  days  after  your  departure  -^  I  was  pretty  well,  but  I 
have  begun  to  languish  again,  and  last  night  was  very  tedious 
and  oppressive.  I  excused  myself  to-day  from  dining  with 
General  Paoli,  where  I  love  to  dine  "*,  but  I  was  griped  by  the 
talons  of  necessity. 

On  Saturday  I  dined,  as  is  usual,  at  the  opening  of  the  Ex- 
hibition. Our  company  was  splendid,  whether  more  numerous 
than  at  any  former  time  I  know  not  ^.  Our  tables  seem  always 
full.  On  Monday,  if  I  am  told  truth,  were  received  at  the  door 
one    hundred   and    ninety  pounds,  for  the  admission  of  three 

mention.      Mr.    Hayward    calls   her  entry  in   Johnson's   Diary: — '1783? 

letter  an    answer  to   Johnson's  last  April  5.    I  took  leave  of  Mrs.  Thrale. 

[aiite,  ii.  279),  though  she  wrote  on  I    was   much   moved.     I    had    some 

Good    Friday   and    he    had    written  expostulations    with    her.     She   said 

before  Christmas.     She  had  been  at  that   she    was    likewise   affected.     I 

the   Opera    at    the    time    when    he  commended  the  Thrales  with  great 

wrote.      For   little    Harriet's    pretty  good-will  to  God  ;  may  my  petitions 

speech,  see  ante,  ii.  239,  «.  i.     The  have  been  heard.'    Hawkins's  Zz/i?  ^y 

child's  name  was  Henrietta  Sophia;  Johnson,  p.  553.     S&epost,  p.  303. 

she    was    buried    at    Streatham   on  "  Boswell  quotes  these  words,  Life, 

April  25.  iv.  330. 

'  Johnson    had    been     left     their  ^  '  It  was  more  numerous ;  80  (at 

guardian.     Post,  p.  303.  8j.)  against  57  in  1781.'    Leslie  and 

^  For  Johnson's  '  innocent  envy  of  Taylor's  Reynolds,  ii.  397,  ft.  i.     If 

those  who  may  be  said  to  be  born  it  was  more  numerous  than  in  1782 

to  friends,'  see    ante,   ii.  237,    n.    2.  the  dinner  was   less   costly ;   for  80 

He  was   sadly  discovering  that  his  guests  at  8j.  each  would  amount  to 

'  fortuitous    friendship  '    with     Mrs.  ;^32,  whereas  in  1782  the  dinner  cost 

Thrale   was    rapidly   coming   to   an  .2^42,   which,    at    the   same    charge, 

end.  would  give  105  guests.    Ante,  ii.  250, 

^  Hawkins     found     the     following  «.  3. 

thousand 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


293 


thousand  eight  hundred  spectators '.  Supposing  the  shew  open 
ten  hours,  and  the  spectators  staying  one  with  another  each  an 
hour,  the  rooms  never  had  fewer  than  three  hundred  and  eighty 
justling  against  each  other.  Poor  Lowe  met  some  discouragement, 
but  I  interposed  for  him,  and  prevailed "". 

Mr.  Barry's  exhibition  was  opened  the  same  day,  and  a  book 
is  pubhshed  to  recommend  it,  which,  if  you  read  it,  you  will  find 
decorated  with  some  satirical  pictures  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
and  others.  I  have  not  escaped.  You  must  however  think  with 
some  esteem  of  Barry  for  the  comprehension  of  his  design  ^. 

I  am,  Madam, 
Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 


'  The  first  Exhibition  was  held  in 
1769,  and  was  kept  open  for  a  month. 
The  receipts  at  the  door  were  just 
short  of  £700.  Leslie  and  Taylor's 
Reynolds,  i.  321.  Two  years  later 
they  amounted  to  £112^.     lb.  i.  405. 

^  Lowe's  picture  was  refused  ad- 
mission, but  Johnson  wrote  to  Rey- 
nolds and  to  Barry  in  his  behalf,  and 
it  was  admitted.  It  was  hung  how- 
ever in  an  empty  room.  According 
to  Northcote  '  it  was  execrable  be- 
yond belief.'  IJ/e,  iv.  201,  and  North- 
cote's  Reynolds,  ii,  141. 

^  Barry  had  spent  many  years  in 
decorating  the  great  room  of  the 
Society  of  Arts, '  living  chiefly  on  oat- 
meal porridge.'  Leslie  and  Taylor's 
Reynolds,  ii.  179,  397.  It  was  these 
decorations  that  he  now  exhibited. 
His  book  was  entitled,  An  account 
of  a  Series  of  Pictures  in  the  Great 
Room  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  at  the 
Adelphi.  Horace  Walpole  writing  of 
it  on  May  11,  says: — 'Barry  has 
expounded  all  in  a  book  which  does 
not  want  sense,  though  full  of  passion 
and  self,  and  vulgarisms  and  vanity.' 
Letters,  viii.  366.  In  one  passage 
Barry  praises  Johnson  : — '  My  ad- 
miration,' he  writes,  '  of  the  genius 
and  abilities  of  this  great  master  of 


morality,  Dr.  Johnson,  cannot  be 
more  than  it  is  ;  but  my  estimation 
of  his  literary  abilities  is  next  to 
nothing  when  compared  with  my 
reverence  for  his  consistent,  manly, 
and  weh-spent  life — so  long  a  writer 
in  such  a  town  as  London,  and 
through  many  vicissitudes,  without 
ever  being  betrayed  into  a  single 
meanness  that  at  this  day  he  might 
be  ashamed  to  avow.'  Barry's  Works, 
ed.  1809,  ii.  339.  The  passage  in 
which  Johnson  '  has  not  escaped  '  is, 
I  believe,  the  following,  which  comes 
in  the  midst  of  an  insolent  attack  on 
Reynolds  : — '  The  affluence  which 
may  arise  from  the  vogue  for  making 
portraits  may  by  little  necessary  arts 
and  industrious  puffing  be  made  to  fill 
up  for  the  moment  the  httle  minds 
of  the  thoughtless  rabble,  whether  of 
the  polite  or  vulgar  sort,  or  both,  and 
will  even  help  to  confound  matters 
still  further,  and  give  our  names  a 
consequence  with  some  of  those  dis- 
pensers of  fame,  the  book-makers  ; 
who,  however  knowing  in  what  they 
may  have  really  studied,  can,  with  a 
very  few  exceptions,  hardly  be  con- 
sidered for  their  knowledge  of  the  arts 
as  in  anything  differing  from  the  mere 
herd.'     lb.  p.  309.     See  Life,  iv.  224. 

To 


294 


To  Airs.    Tlwale 


[A.D.  1783. 


838. 
To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[London],  May  2,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  219. 


839. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dear    Madam,  London,  [Thursday]  May  8,  1783. 

I  thought  your  letter  long  in  coming.  I  suppose  it  is  true 
that  I  looked  but  languid  at  the  exhibition,  but  have  been  worse 
since.  Last  Wednesday,  the  Wednesday  of  last  week,  I  came 
home  ill  from  Mr.  Jodrel's  ^,  and  after  a  tedious,  oppressive,  im- 
patient night,  sent  an  excuse  to  General  Paoli,  and  took  on 
Thursday  two  brisk  catharticks  and  a  dose  of  calomel.  Little 
things  do  me  no  good.  At  night  I  was  much  better  ^  Next 
day  cathartick  again,  and  the  third  day  opium  for  my  cough. 
I  lived  without  flesh  all  the  three  days'^.  The  recovery  was 
more  than  I  expected.  I  went  to  church  on  Sunday  quite  at 
ease. 

The  exhibition  prospers  so  much,  that  Sir  Joshua  says  it  will 
maintain  the  academy.  He  estimates  the  probable  amount  at 
three  thousand  pounds  ^  Steevens  is  of  opinion  that  Croft's 
books  will  sell  for  near  three  times  as  much  as  they  cost,  which 
however  is  not  more  than  might  be  expected. 

Favour    me   with    a   direction    to    Musgrave   of    Ireland ;    I 


"  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  257. 

'  Ante,  ii.  133,  7i.  3. 

^  Boswell  called  on  Johnson  on  the 
evening  of  this  day,  and  records  what 
he  said  on  the  strangeness  of  there 
being  '  so  little  reading  in  the  world 
and  so  much  writing.'    Life,  iv.  218. 

"  On  the  last  of  the  three  days, 
Saturday,  May  3,  he  dined  at  Mrs. 
Garrick's.  '  Poor  Johnson,'  wrote 
Hannah  More  {Memoirs,  i.  280), 
'  exerted  himself  exceedingly,  but  he 
was  very  ill  and  looked  so  dreadfully, 
that  it  quite  grieved  mc.    He  is  more 


mild  and  complacent  than  he  used 
to  be.  His  sickness  seems  to  have 
softened  his  mind,  without  having  at 
all  weakened  it.  I  was  struck  with 
the  mild  radiance  of  this  setting  sun. 
As  we  all  paid  him  the  homage  he 
both  expects  and  deserves  he  was 
very  communicative,  and  of  course  in- 
structive and  delightful  in  the  highest 
degree.' 

^  The  receipts  are  not  given  for 
this  year  in  Leslie  and  Taylor's 
Reynolds.  The  following  year,  1784, 
they  were  ^2444.    /(^.  ii.  441. 

have 


Aetat,  73.] 


To  Mr.  and  Miss   Wilkes. 


295 


have  a  charitable  office  to  propose  to  him.     Is  he  Knight  or 
Baronet'  ? 

My  present  circle  of  enjoyment  is  as  narrow  for  me  as  the 
Circus  ^  for  Mrs.  Montao-ue.  When  I  first  settled  in  this  neig-h- 
bourhood  I  had  Richardson  and  Lawrence,  and  Mrs.  Allen 
at  hand  ^  I  had  Mrs.  Williams,  then  no  bad  companion,  and 
Levet  for  a  long  time  always  to  be  had.  If  I  now  go  out  I  must 
go  far  for  company,  and  at  last  come  back  to  two  sick  and  dis- 
contented women,  who  can  hardly  talk,  if  they  had  any  thing 
to  say,  and  whose  hatred  of  each  other  makes  one  great  exercise 
of  their  faculties  1 

But,  with  all  these  evils,  positive  and  privative,  my  health  in 
its  present  humour  promises  to  mend,  and  I,  in  my  present 
humour,  promise  to  take  care  of  it,  and  if  we  both  keep  our 
words,  we  may  yet  have  a  brush  at  the  cobwebs  in  the  sky. 

Let  my  dear  loves  write  to  me,  and  do  you  write  often  your- 
self to, 

Dear  Madam, 
Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


840. 

To  Mr.  and  Miss  Wilkes^.  May  24  178". 

Mr.  Johnson  returns  thanks  to  Mr.  and  Miss  Wilkes  for  their 
kind  invitation  ;  but  he  is  engaged  for  Tuesday  to  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  and  for  Wednesday  to  Mr.  Paradise. 


'  Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  an  Irish 
Baronet,  who  had  succeeded  to  the 
title  on  December  2,  1782.  Debrett's 
New  Peerage,  ed.  1820,  ii.  1425. 
Miss  Burney  describes  him  as  '  a 
caricature  of  Mr.  Boswell,  who  is  a 
caricatureof  all  other  of  Dr.  Johnson's 
admirers.'  She  gives  a  very  amusing 
account  of  him.  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  ii.  84.     See  ante,  i.  399. 

'^  The  Circus  at  Bath,  no  doubt. 

^  Richardson  the  novehst  lived  in 
Salisbury  Court,  now  known  as  Salis- 
bury  Square.     Mrs.    Allen   was,   no 


doubt,  the  wife  of  Johnson's  landlord 
and  next  neighbour. 

"  Mrs.  Williams  and  Mrs.  Des- 
moulins.  See  post,  p.  309,  for  the 
same  melancholy  complaints. 

^  First  published  in  Almon's  Cor- 
respotidcnceofjohn  Wilkes,  ^di.  1805, 
iv.  321. 

Boswell  had  written  to  Wilkes  on 
May  21  : — '  Mr.  Boswell's  compli- 
ments to  Mr.  Wilkes.  He  rejoices 
to  find  he  is  so  much  better  as  to  be 
abroad.  He  finds  that  it  would  not 
be  unpleasant  to  Dr.  Johnson  to  dine 

To 


296 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Hamilton.        [a.d.  i783. 


841. 

To  THE  Right  Honourable  William  Windham. 
London,  May  31,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  227. 

842. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[London],  June  2,  1783.     PubHshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  227. 

843. 

To  


June  2,  1783. 

In  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Co.'s  Auction  Catalogue  of  Nov.  27,  1889, 
Lot  98  is  a  Letter  of  Johnson,  one  page  quarto,  dated  June  2,  1783, 
'  ordering  that  a  set  of  Rainblers  should  be  delivered  to  the  bearer  ^ '. 

844. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Hamilton^. 

Reverend  Sir,  Bolt  Court,  June  4,  1783. 

Be  pleased  to  excuse  this  application  from  a  stranger  in 

favour  of  one  who  has  very  little  ability  to  speak   for  herself. 

The  unhappy   woman   who  waits  on   you  with  this,   has   been 


at  Mr.  Wilkes's.  The  thing  would  be 
so  curiously  benignant,  it  were  a  pity 
it  should  not  take  place.  Nobody 
but  Mr.  Boswell  should  be  asked  to 
meet  the  doctor.  Mr.  Boswell  goes 
for  Scotland  on  Friday  the  30th.  If 
then  a  card  were  sent  to  the  doctor 
on  Monday,  Tuesday  or  Wednesday, 
without  delay,  it  is  to  be  hoped  he 
would  be  fixed  ;  and  notice  will  be 
sent  to  Mr.  Boswell.'    lb.  p.  314. 

Four  days  later  he  sent  the  fol- 
lowing note:—'  South  Audley  Street, 
25th  May,  1783.  Mr.  Boswell  pre- 
sents his  best  compliments  to  Mr. 
and  Miss  Wilkes:  encloses  Dr. 
Johnson's  answer ;  and  regrets  much 
that  so  agreeable  a  meeting  must  be 
deferred  till  next  year,  as  Mr.  Bos- 
well is  to  set  out  for  Scotland  in  a 
few  days.     Hopes   Mr.  Wilkes   will 


write  to  him  there.'    lb.  p.  321, 

It  is  strange  that  Boswell  makes 
no  mention  of  this  invitation  in  the 
Life.  He  may  have  thought  that  it 
was  not  worthy  of  Johnson  to  be 
willing  to  visit  a  man  so  infamous 
as  Wilkes. 

'  Perhaps  Johnson  had  met  some 
other  old  acquaintance,  who,  like 
his  fellow-collegian,  Oliver  Edwards, 
'  had  been  told  that  he  had  written  a 
very  pretty  book  called  Tlie  Rambler. 
"  I  was  unwilling,"  said  Johnson, 
"  that  he  should  leave  the  world  in 
total  darkness,  and  sent  him  a  set."' 
Life,  iv.  90. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  757. 

Dr.  Hamilton  was  Vicar  of  St. 
Martin's  in  the  Fields. 

known 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


297 


known  to  me  many  years.  She  is  the  daughter  of  a  clergyman 
of  Leicestershire,  who  by  an  unhappy  marriage  is  reduced  to 
soHcit  a  refuge  in  the  workhouse  of  your  parish,  to  which  she  has 
a  claim  by  her  husband's  settlement '. 

Her  case  admits  of  little  deliberation  ;  she  is  turned  out  of  her 
lodging  into  the  street.  What  my  condition  allows  me  to  do 
for  her  I  have  already  done,  and  having  no  friend,  she  can  have 
recourse  only  to  the  parish. 

I  am;  reverend  Sir,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

845. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dear  Madam,  London,  June  5,  1783. 

Why  do  you  write  so  seldom  ?  I  was  very  glad  of  your 
letter.  You  were  used  formerly  to  write  more,  when  I  know  not 
why  you  should  [have]  had  much  more  to  say.  Do  not  please 
yourself  with  showing  me  that  you  can  forget  me,  who  do  not 
forget  you. 

Mr.  Desmoulins'  account  of  my  health  rather  wants  confirma- 
tion.    But  complaints  are  useless. 

I  have,  by  the  migration  of  one  of  my  ladies,  more  peace  at 
home ;  but  I  remember  an  old  savage  chief  that  says  of  the 
Romans  with  great  indignation — tibi  solitiidinem  faciunt^  pacem 
appellant  ^. 

Mr. was  not  calamity,  it  was  his  sister,  to  whom  I  am 

afraid  the  term  is  now  strictly  applicable,  for  she  seems  to  have 
fallen  some  way  into  obscurity;  I  am  afraid  by  a  palsy '^. 


'  The  law  of  settlement  is  the  law 
which  determines  the  parish  to  which 
a  pauper  belongs,  where  he  has  the 
right  to  be  maintained,  and  which 
gives  the  power  of  removing  him  to 
it.  Penny  Cyclo.,  ed.  1840,  xviii.  400. 
'  A  new  settlement  may  be  acquired 
several  ways,  as  by  marriage.  For 
a  woman,  marrying  a  man  that  is 
settled  in  another  parish,  changes 
her   own   settlement,'     Blackstone's 


Commenlaries,  ed.  1775,  i.  363. 

-  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  259. 

^  It  was  Mrs.  Desmoulins  who  had 
gone  away.  Life,  iv.  233.  The 
quotation  is  from  The  Agricola  of 
Tacitus,  c.  XXX. 

■*  Johnson,  post,  p.  310,  refers  to 
'  new  calamities,'  and  mentions  a  lady 
left  '  very  slenderly  supplied.'  It  is 
possible  that  this  letter  is  misplaced 
by  Mrs.  Piozzi, 

Whence 


298 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.1783, 


Whence  your  pity  arises  for  the  thief  that  has  made  the  hang- 
man idle,  I  cannot  discover.  I  am  sorry  indeed  for  every  suicide, 
but  I  suppose  he  would  have  gone  to  the  gallows  without  being 
lamented'. 

You  will  soon  see  that  Miss  H ,  if  she  finds  countenance, 

and  gets  scholars,  will  conquer  her  vexations.  Is  not  Susy  like- 
wise one  of  her  pupils  ?  I  owe  Susy  a  letter,  which  I  purpose  to 
pay  next  time. 

I  can  tell  you  of  no  new  thing  in  town,  but  Dr.  Maxwel^, 
whose  lady  is  by  ill  health  detained  with  two  little  babies  at 
Bath. 

You  give  a  cheerful  account  of  your  way  of  life.  I  hope  you 
will  settle  into  tranquillity. 

When   I  can  repay  you  such  a  narrative  of  my  felicity,  you 

shall  see  description. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


846. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  3. 

Dear  Madam,  London,  June  13,  1783. 

Yesterday  were  brought  hither  two  parcels  directed  to  Mrs. 
Thrale,  to  the  care  of  Dr.  Johnson.  By  what  the  touch  can 
discover,  they  contain  something  of  which  cloaths  are  made  ;  and 
I  suspect  them  to  be  Musgrave's"*  long-expected  present.  You 
will  order  them  to  be  called  for,  or  let  me  know  whither  I  shall 
send  them. 

Crutchley  has  had  the  gout,  but  is  abroad  again.  Seward 
called  on  me  yesterday.  He  is  going  only  for  a  few  weeks  ;  first 
to  Paris,  and  then  to  Flanders,  to  contemplate  the  pictures  of 


'  It  is  possible,  though  not  likely, 
that  Johnson  refers  to  Powell,  the 
Cashier  in  the  Army  Pay  Office,  in 
whose  accounts  a  great  deficiency 
had  been  discovered.  He  cut  his 
throat  towards  the  end  of  May.  It 
does  not  seem  likely  that  he  would 
have  been  tried  on  a  capital  charge. 
His  accomplice  Bcmbridge  was  sen- 


tenced to  pay  a  fine  of  ^2,600,  and 
to  be  imprisoned  for  six  months. 
Walpole's  Letters,  viii.  371,  and 
Afzn.  Reg.,  1783,1.  221. 

-  Perhaps  his  friend  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Maxwell,  who  supplied  Boswell  with 
some  Collectanea.     Life,  ii.  116. 

''  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  262. 

"  The  Irish  baronet.    Ante,  ii.  294. 

Claude 


Aetat.  73.]  To  Mts.   Tkrak.  299 


Claude  Loraine  ;  and  he  asked  me  if  that  was  not  as  good  a  way 
as  any  of  spending  time — that  time  which  returns  no  more — of 
which  however  a  great  part  seems  to  be  very  foohshly  spent,  even 
by  the  wisest  and  the  best'. 

That  time  at  least  is  not  lost  in  which  the  evils  of  life  are 
relieved,  and  therefore  the  moments  which  you  bestow  on  Miss 
H are  properly  employed.  She  seems  to  make  an  un- 
common impression  upon  you.  What  has  she  done  or  suffered 
out  of  the  common  course  of  things  ?  I  love  a  little  secret 
history. 

Poor  Dr.  Lawrence  and  his  youngest  son  died  almost  on  the 
same  day^. 

Mrs.  Dobson,  the  directress  of  rational  conversation,  did  not 
translate  Petrarch,  but  epitomised  a  very  bulky  French  Life  of 
Petrarch.     She  translated,  I  think,  the  Memoirs  of  D'Aubigne^ 

Your  last  letter  was  very  pleasing ;  it  expressed  kindness  to 
me,  and  some  degree  of  placid  acquiescence  in  your  present  mode 
of  life,  which  is,  I  think,  the  best  which  is  at  present  within  your 
reach. 

My  powers  and  attention  have  for  a  long  time  been  almost 
wholly  employed  upon  my  health,  I  hope  not  wholly  without 
success,  but  solitude  is  very  tedious. 

I  am,  Madam, 
Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

'  Of  Johnson's  opinion  of  art  see  this  lady  as  '  exhausting  her  store  of 

Life,  i.  363,  n.  3.  compliments  on  her,  and  then  quitting 

^  According  to    the    Gentlernan' s  her  to  go  and  give  another  dose  of 

iJ/«g'(^2-/«^,  1783,  p.  542,  Dr.  Lawrence  flummery    to    Mrs.    Thrale.'       She 

died  at  Canterbury  on  June  13,  his  boasted  that  'she  had  made  ^400  of 

second  son  died  on  the  15th.     But,  her    Petrarca.'       Mme.    D'Arblay's 

if  we  may  trust  Munk's  Roll  of  the  Diary,  i.  352.     An  anonymous  Life 

College  of  Physicians,  ii.  153,  on  the  of  UAiibigne    is    reviewed    in   the 

father's  tomb-stone  June  6  is  given  Gentlema7i' s  Magazine  for  1772,  p. 

as  the  day  of  his  death.     If  he  died  281.  She  was  the  wife  of  Dr.  Matthew 

on  June   13   or  his  son  on  the  15th  Dobson,  a  Liverpool  physician.   Mrs. 

Johnson's  letter  must  be  misdated.  Thrale  says  that  during  this  visit  to 

^  Susanna      Dobson's      Life      of  Bath  '  Dr.  Dobson  from  Liverpool ' 

Petrarch  was  reviewed  in  the  Getitle-  was  one  of  her  '  medical  advisers.' . . . 

man's  Magazine  for   1775,  pp.   186,  Hayvvard's  Piozzi,  i.  272. 
240.     Miss  Burney  in  1780  describes 

To 


To  Mrs.   Tlu'ale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


847. 
To  Edmund  Allen. 
[London],  June  17,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  228. 

848. 
To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor. 
[London],  June  17,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  228. 

849. 
To  Thomas  Davies. 
[London],  June  18,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  231. 

850. 
To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 

Dear  Madam,  Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  June  19,  1783. 

I  am  sitting  down  in  no  cheerful  solitude  to  write  a  narrative 
which  would  once  have  affected  you  with  tenderness  and  sorrow, 
but  which  you  will  perhaps  pass  over  now  with  the  careless 
glance  of  frigid  indifference.  For  this  diminution  of  regard  how- 
ever, I  know  not  whether  I  ought  to  blame  you,  who  may  have 
reasons  which  I  cannot  know,  and  I  do  not  blame  myself,  who 
have  for  a  great  part  of  human  life  done  you  what  good  I  could, 
and  have  never  done  you  evil. 

I  had  been  disordered  in  the  usual  way,  and  had  been  relieved 
by  the  usual  methods,  by  opium  and  catharticks,  but  had  rather 
lessened  my  dose  of  opium. 

On  Monday  the  16th  I  sat  for  my  picture '',  and  walked  a  con- 
siderable way  with  little  inconvenience.  In  the  afternoon  and 
evening  I  felt  myself  light  and  easy,  and  began  to  plan  schemes 
of  life^     Thus  I  went  to  bed,  and  in  a  short  time  waked  and  sat 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  26S. 

The  greater  part  of  this  Letter  is 
given  by  Boswell  in  the  Life,  iv.  229. 
There  too  are  given  other  letters  in 
which  Johnson  describes  the  stroke 
of  palsy  which  came  upon  him  in  the 
morning  of  June  17. 

=  No  doubt  to  Miss  Reynolds. 
Post,  p.  327. 


^  On  his  birthday  in  1764  he  re- 
corded in  his  Diary  : — '  I  have  now 
spent  fifty-five  years  in  resolving; 
having,  from  the  earliest  time  almost 
that  I  can  remember,  been  forming 
schemes  of  a  better  fife.  I  have  done 
nothing.'  Pr.and Med.,'^.%Z.  Ante, 
i.  250,  n.  4. 

up, 


Aetat.  73.]  To  Mrs.   Tlirale.  301 

up,  as  has  been  long  my  custom,  when  I  felt  a  confusion  and 
indistinctness  in  my  head,  which  lasted  I  suppose  about  half 
a  minute  ;  I  was  alarmed,  and  prayed  God,  that  however  he 
might  afflict  my  body,  he  would  spare  my  understanding.  This 
prayer,  that  I  might  try  the  integrity  of  my  faculties,  I  made  in 
Latin  verse'.  The  lines  were  not  very  good,  but  I  knew  them 
not  to  be  very  good  :  I  made  them  easily,  and  concluded  myself 
to  be  unimpaired  in  my  faculties. 

Soon  after  I  perceived  that  I  had  suffered  a  paralytick  stroke, 
and  that  my  speech  was  taken  from  me.  I  had  no  pain,  and  so 
little  dejection  in  this  dreadful  state,  that  I  wondered  at  my  own 
apathy,  and  considered  that  perhaps  death  itself  when  it  should 
come  would  excite  less  horrour  than  seems  now  to  attend  it. 
^  In  order  to  rouse  the  vocal  organs  I  took  two  drams.  Wine 
has  been  celebrated  for  the  production  of  eloquence.  I  put 
myself  into  violent  motion,  and  I  think  repeated  it ;  but  all  was 
vain.  I  then  went  to  bed,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  I  think, 
slept.  When  I  saw  light,  it  was  time  to  contrive  what  I  should 
do.  Though  God  stopped  my  speech  he  left  me  my  hand, 
I  enjoyed  a  mercy  which  was  not  granted  to  my  dear  friend 
Lawrence  ^,  who  now  perhaps  overlooks  me  as  I  am  writing,  and 
rejoices  that  I  have  what  he  wanted.  My  first  note  was  neces- 
sarily to  my  servant,  who  came  in  talking,  and  could  not  imme- 
diately comprehend  why  he  should  read  what  I  put  into  his 
hands. 

I  then  wrote  a  card  to  Mr.  Allen  ^,  that  I  might  have  a  discreet 
friend  at  hand  to  act  as  occasion  should  require.  In  penning  this 
note  I  had  some  difficulty,  my  hand,  I  knew  not  how  nor  why, 
made  wrong  letters.    I  then  wrote  to  Dr.  Taylor'*  to  come  to  me, 

'  'Nocte,  inter  16  et  17  Junii,  1783.  ^  The    palsy    had    deprived    Dr. 

Summe  pater,  quodcunque  tuum  de  Lawrence   of  the  power  of  writing 

corpore  Numen  some  time   before  his  death.     Life, 

Hoc    statuat,    precibus     Christus  iv.  144,  ;;.  3. 

adesse  veHt :  ^  His  landlord  and  next  neighbour. 

Ingenio   parcas,  nee  sit  mihi   culpa  See  Life,  iv.  228,  for  the  letter. 

rogasse,  "  This  is  one  of  the  very  few  letters 

Qua    solum   potero    parte  placere  which    Taylor   allowed    Boswell    to 

tibi.'  publish.     lb.     The  following   exact 

Works,\.  159.  reprint  of  it  is  given  by  Professor 

and 


302 


To  Mrs.   T/'wale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


and  bring  Dr.  Heberden,  and  I  sent  to  Dr.  Brocklesby,  who  is 
my  neighbour'.  My  physicians  are  very  friendly  and  very  disin- 
terested, and  give  me  great  hopes,  but  you  may  imagine  my 
situation.  I  have  so  far  recovered  my  vocal  powers,  as  to  repeat 
the  Lord's  Prayer  with  no  very  imperfect  articulation.  My 
memory,  I  hope,  yet  remains  as  it  was  ;  but  such  an  attack 
produces  solicitude  for  the  safety  of  every  faculty. 

How  this  will  be  received  by  you  I  know  not.     I  hope  you 
will  sympathise  with  me  ;  but  perhaps 

My  mistress  gracious,  mild,  and  good. 
Cries  !    Is  he  dumb  ?   'Tis  time  he  shou'd  ^. 

But  can  this  be  possible  ?    I  hope  it  cannot.    I  hope  that  what. 


Mayor  in  Notes  and  Queries,  6th 
S.  V.  481.  'The  repetitions  be- 
tray,' he  says,  *  the  writer's  agita- 
tion ' : — 

Dear  Sir,  — It  has  pleased  God 
by  a  paralytick  stroke  in  the  night  to 
deprive  me  of  speech. 

I  am  veiy  desirous  of  D''  Heber- 
den['s]  assistance  as  I  think  my  case 
is  not  past  remedy.  Let  me  see 
you  as  soon  as  it  is  possible.  Bring 
D""  Heberden  with  you  if  you  can, 
but  come  yourself,  at  all  events.  I 
am  glad  you  are  so  well,  when  when 
\sic\  I  am  so  dreadfully  attacked. 

I  think  that  by  a  speedy  applica- 
tion of  stimulants  much  may  be  done. 
I  question  if  a  a  [sic^  vomit  vigorous 
and  rough  would  not  rouse  the  organs 
of  speech  to  action. 

As  it  is  too  early  to  send  I  will  try 
to  recollect  what  I  can  that  can  be 
suspected  to  have  brough[tJ  on  this 
dreadful  distress. 

I  have  been  accustomed  to  bleed 
frequently  for  an  asthmatick  com- 
plaint, but  have  forbom  for  some 
time  by  D""  Pepys's  persuasion,  who 
perceived  my  legs  beginning  to  swell. 

I  sometimes  aileviate  a  painful,  or 
more  properly  an  oppressive  constric- 
tion of  my  chest  by  opiates,  and  have 


lately  taken  opium  frequently,  but  the 
last,  or  two  last  times  in  smaller 
quantities.  My  largest  dose  is  three 
grains,  and  last  night  I  took  but  two. 

You  will    suggest   these   thing[s], 
and  they  are  all  that  I  can   call  to 
mind,  to  D""  Heberden. 
I  am,  (S:c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

June  17,  1783. 

D""  Brocklesby  will  be  with  me  to 
meet  D"^  Heberden,  and  I  shall  have 
previously  make  master  of  the  case 
as  well  as  I  can. 

To  the  Re^'i  D-"  Taylor. 

'  In  the  British  Museum  in  the 
Grace  Gollection,  xi.  60,  is  a  picture 
of  Dr.  Heberden's  house  on  the  south 
side  of  Pall  Mall ;  the  only  freehold 
in  Pall  Mall,  the  site  of  the  house 
given  to  Nell  Gwynne  by  King 
Charles  II.'  Brocklesby  in  1788, 
and  probably  at  this  time  too,  was 
living  in  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 
Burke's  CorfespoJideute,  iii.  78. 

-  '  The  queen  so  gracious,  mild,  and 
good 
Cries,  "  Is  he  gone  .'  'tis  time  he 
should." ' 

On  the  Death  0/ Dr.  Swift.  Swift's 
Works,  ed.  1803,  xi.  245. 

when 


Aetat.  73.]  To  M7^s.   Tkrale.  303 


when  I  could  speak,  I  spoke  of  you,  and  to  you,  will  be  in 
a  sober  and  serious  hour  remembered  by  you'  ;  and  surely  it 
cannot  be  remembered  but  with  some  degree  of  kindness.  I  have 
loved  you  with  virtuous  affection  ;  I  have  honoured  you  with 
sincere  esteem.  Let  not  all  our  endearments  be  forgotten,  but 
let  me  have  in  this  great  distress  your  pity  and  your  prayers. 
You  see  I  yet  turn  to  you  with  my  complaints  as  a  settled  and 
unalienable  friend  ;  do  not,  do  not  drive  me  from  you,  for  I  have 
not  deserved  either  neglect  or  hatred. 

To  the  girls,  who  do  not  write  often,  for  Susy  has  written  only 
once,  and  Miss  Thrale""  owes  me  a  letter,  I  earnestly  recommend, 
as  their  guardian  and  friend,  that  they  remember  their  Creator 
in  the  days  of  their  youth  ^. 

I  suppose  you  may  wish  to  know  how  my  disease  is  treated  by 
the  physicians.  They  put  a  blister  upon  my  back,  and  two  from 
my  ear  to  my  throat,  one  on  a  side.  The  blister  on  the  back  has 
done  little,  and  those  on  the  throat  have  not  risen.  I  bullied 
and  bounced,  (it  sticks  to  our  last  sand'*)  and  compelled  the 
apothecary  to  make  his  salve  according  to  the  Edinburgh  Dis- 
pensatory^, that  it  might  adhere  better.  I  have  two  on  now  of 
my  own  prescription.  They  likewise  give  me  salt  of  hartshorn, 
which  I  take  with  no  great  confidence,  but  am  satisfied  that  what 
can  be  done  is  done  for  me. 

0  God !  give  me  comfort  and  confidence  in  Thee  :  forgive  my 
sins ;  and  if  it  be  Thy  good  pleasure,  relieve  my  diseases  for 
Jesus  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 

1  am  almost  ashamed  of  this  querulous  letter,  but  now  it  is 
written,  let  it  go. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

'  Atite,  ii.  292,  n.  3.  '  Time  that  on  all  things  lays  his 

^  He  does  not  call  her  Queeney.  lenient  hand 

^  Ecdesiastes,  xii.  i.  Yet  tames  not  this ;    it  sticks  to 

"  Johnson  says  that  his  old  habit  our  last  sand.' 

of  bullying  and  bouncing  will  stick  =  In  the  Getttleman's  Magazine  for 

to  him  till  the  last  sand  is  running  1747,  p.  548,  is  advertised  The  Edin- 

out.     '  It  sticks  to  our  last  sand'  is  a  burgh  Pharmacopoeia,  edited  by  W. 

quotation  from  Pope's  Moral  Essays,  Lewis,  M.B. 
i.  224  : — 

To 


304  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [A.d.  1783. 

851. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

Dearest  Madam,  London,  June  20, 1783. 

I  think  to  send  you  for  some  time  a  regular  diary.  You 
will  forgive  the  gross  images  which  disease  must  necessarily 
present.  Dr.  Lawrence  said,  that  medical  treatises  should  be 
always  in  Latin". 

The  two  vesicatories^  which  I  procured  with  so  much  trouble 
did  not  perform  well,  for,  being  applied  to  the  lower  part  of  the 
fauces,  a  part  always  in  motion,  their  adhesion  was  continually 
broken.     The  back,  I  hear,  is  very  properly  flayed. 

I  have  now  healing  application  to  the  cheeks,  and  have  my 
head  covered  with  one  formidable  diffusion  of  cantharides  '^j  from 
which  Dr.  Heberden  assures  me  that  experience  promises  great 
effects.  He  told  me  likewise,  that  my  utterance  has  been  im- 
proved since  yesterday,  of  which,  however,  I  was  less  certain  ; 
though  doubtless  they  who  see  me  at  intervals  can  best  judge. 

I  never  had  any  distortion  of  the  countenance,  but  what  Dr. 
Brocklesby  called  a  little  prolapsus,  which  went  away  the  second 
day. 

I  was  this  day  directed  to  eat  flesh,  and  I  dined  very  copiously 
upon  roasted  lamb  and  boiled  pease :  I  then  went  to  sleep  in 
a  chair,  and  when  I  waked,  I  found  Dr.  Brocklesby  sitting  by 
me,  and  fell  to  talking  with  him  in  such  a  manner  as  made  me 
glad,  and,  I  hope,  made  me  thankful.  The  Doctor  fell  to  repeat- 
ing Juvenal's  ninth  satire  ;  but  I  let  him  see  that  the  province 
was  mine  ^. 

I  am  to  take  wine  to-night,  and  hope  it  will  do  me  good. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

'  Piozzi  Lettejs,  ii.  273.  to  raise  blisters.'     lb. 

'  Mrs.  Thrale,  if  I  understand  one  ^  Eighteen  months  later  Dr. 
of  her  letters  rightly,  was  not  too  Brocklesby,  when  attending  John- 
nice  to  make  a  coarse  medical  joke  son  on  his  death-bed,  and  talking  on 
to  Dr.  Lawrence.  Mme.  D'Arblay's  the  subject  of  prayer,  '  repeated  from 
Diary,  ii.  123.  Juvenal, — 

^  '  Vesicatory.  A  ])hstering  medi-  "  Oranduni  esi,  ut  sit  mens  sana  in 
cine.'     Johnson's  Dictionary.  corpore  sano" 

*  '  Cantharides.  Spanish  flies  used  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  tenth 

To 


Aetat.  73.]  To  Mvs.  Tlivale.  305 


852. 

To  Mauritius  Lowe  '. 
Sir,  Friday,  June  20,  1783. 

You  know,  I  suppose,  that  a  sudden  illness  makes  it  imprac- 
ticable to  me  to  wait  on  Mr.  Barry,  and  the  time  is  short.  If  it 
be  your  opinion  that  the  end  can  be  obtained  by  writing,  I  am 
very  willing  to  write,  and,  perhaps,  it  may  do  as  well ;  it  is,  at 
least,  all  that  can  be  expected  at  present  from, 

Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 
If   you    would    have   me   write,  come  to   me :    I   order  your 
admission. 

853. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Dear  Madam,  London,  June  21,  1783. 

I  continue  my  journal.  When  I  went  to  bed  last  night, 
I  found  the  new  covering  of  my  head  uneasy,  not  painful,  rather 
too  warm.  I  had  however  a  comfortable  and  placid  night.  My 
physicians  this  morning  thought  my  amendment  not  inconsider- 
able ;  and  my  friends  who  visited  me  said,  that  my  look  was 
spritely  and  cheerful.  Nobody  has  shown  more  affection  than 
Paradise  ^.  Langton ''  and  he  were  with  me  a  long  time  to-day. 
I  was  almost  tired. 

satire  ;  but  in  running  it  quickly  over,  ii.  66,  293,  and  for  James  Barry  ante, 

he  happened,  in  the  Hne,  ii.  293.     Johnson  in  the  midst  of  his 

"  Qui  spatmm  vitcB  extremuni  inter  own  troubles  does  not  forget  his  poor 

munera  ponat,^'  friend, 
to    pronounce    supremum    for    ex-  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  275. 

tre7num  ;  at  which  Johnson's  critical  ^  Johnson  in  a  letter  to  him  written 

ear  instantly  took  offence,  and  dis-  on  October  20,   1784,  speaks  of  his 

coursing    vehemently    on    the     un-  great  and  constant  kindness  to  him. 

metrical  effect  of  such  a  lapse,  he  Life,  iv.  364. 

shewed   himself  as   full   as   ever  of  "  Langton     the    following    spring 

the  spirit  of  the  grammarian.'     Life,  '  took  a  little  lodging  in  Fleet  Street 

iv.  401.  in  order  to  be  near,  to  devote  himself 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-  to   Dr.   Johnson.'      Hannah    More's 

•we//,  page  735.  Metnoirs,  i.  310. 

For    Mauritius    Lowe    see    ante, 

VOL.  II.  X  When 


3o6 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


(A.D.  1783. 


When  my  friends  were  gone  I  took  another  hberal  dinner,  such 
as  my  physicians  recommended,  and  slept  after  it,  but  without 
such  evident  advantage  as  was  the  effect  of  yesterday's  siesta- 
Perhaps  the  sleep  was  not  quite  so  sound,  for  I  am  harassed  by 
a  very  disagreeable  operation  of  the  cantharides,  which  I  am 
endeavouring  to  control  by  copious  dilution. 

My  disorders  are  in  other  respects  less  than  usual  ;  my  disease, 
whatever  it  was,  seems  collected  into  this  one  dreadful  effect. 
My  breath  is  free ;  the  constrictions  of  the  chest  are  suspended, 
and  my  nights  pass  without  oppression. 

To-day  I  received  a  letter  of  consolation  and  encouragement 
from  an  unknown  hand,  without  a  name,  kindly  and  piously, 
though  not  enthusiastically  written  '. 

I  had  just  now  from  Mr.  Pepys  a  message,  enquiring  in  your 
name  after  my  health,  of  this  I  can  give  no  account^. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

854. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  June  23,  1783. 

I    thank  you  for  your  kind  letter,  and  will  continue  my 

diary.     On  the  night  of  the  21st  I  had  very  little  rest,  being  kept 

awake  by  an  effect  of  the  cantharides,  not  indeed  formidable,  but 

very  tiresome  and  painful.     On  the  32d  the  physicians  released 


'  Johnson,  I  think,  uses  enfhttsi- 
astically  in  the  sense  in  which  he 
defines  efithusias/n  in  his  Diction- 
ary : — '  A  vain  behef  of  private  revela- 
tion ;  a  vain  confidence  of  divine 
favour  or  communication.'  He  quotes 
from  Locke  :  —  '  Enthusiasm  is 
founded  neither  on  reason  nor  divine 
revelation,  but  rises  from  the  conceits 
of  a  warmed  or  overweening  brain.' 
Hawkins  tells  how  after  Johnson's 
death  he  found  among  his  papers 
another  letter  '  from  an  unknown 
hand '  not  of  consolation  but  reproof. 
It  pointed  out  'his  evil  habits  in  con- 


versation, which  made  his  acquaint- 
ance shunned.  It  was  such  a  letter 
as  many  a  one,  on  the  receipt  of  it, 
would  have  destroyed.  On  the  con- 
trary Johnson  placed  it  in  his  bureau 
in  a  situation  so  obvious  that  it  might 
look  him  in  the  face.'  Hawkins's 
Jo/inson,  p.  601,  note. 

"  He  cannot,  that  is  to  say,  under- 
stand why  Mr.  Pepys  who  was  in 
London  should  make  such  an  enquiry 
in  the  name  of  Mrs.  Thrale  who  was 
in  Bath  and  in  constant  correspond- 
ence with  him. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  277. 

mc 


Aetat.  73.]    '  To  Mrs.  Tkrule.  307 

me  from  the  salts  of  hartshorn.  The  cantharides  continued  their 
persecution,  but  I  was  set  free  from  it  at  night.  I  had  however 
not  much  sleep,  but  I  hope  for  more  to-night.  The  vesications 
on  my  back  and  face  are  healing,  and  only  that  on  my  head 
continues  to  operate. 

My  friends  tell  me  that  my  power  of  utterance  improves  daily, 
and  Dr.  Heberden  declares  that  he  hopes  to  find  me  almost  well 
to-morrow. 

Palsies  are  more  common  than  I  thought.  I  have  been  visited 
by  four  friends  who  have  had  each  a  stroke,  and  one  of  them 
two. 

Your  offer,  dear  Madam,  of  coming  to  me,  is  charmingly  kind; 
but  I  will  lay  up  for  future  use,  and  then  let  it  not  be  considered 
as  obsolete  ;  a  time  of  dereliction''  may  come,  when  I  may  have 
hardly  any  other  friend,  but  in  the  present  exigency  I  cannot 
name  one  who  has  been  deficient  in  civility  or  attention.  What 
man  can  do  for  man  has  been  done  for  me.  Write  to  me  very 
often 

I  am.  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

855. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dear  Madam, 

The  journal  now,  like  other  journals,  grows  very  dry,  as 
it  is  not  diversified  either  by  operations  or  events.  Less  and 
less  is  done,  and,  I  thank  God,  less  and  less  is  suffered  every 
day.  The  physicians  seem  to  think  that  little  more  needs  to 
be  done.  I  find  that  they  consulted  to-day  about  sending  me 
to  Bath,  and  thought  it  needless.  Dr.  Heberden  takes  leave 
to-morrow. 

This  day  I  watered  the  garden  ^,  and  did  not  find  the  watering- 
pots  more  heavy  than  they  have  hitherto  been,  and  my  breath  is 
more  free. 

'  Dereliction  Johnson    defines   as  "  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  278. 

'an  utter   forsaking   or  leaving;  an  ^  Ante,  ii.  193. 

abandoning.' 

X  2  Poor 


3o8 


To  Mrs.  Porter. 


[A.D.  1783. 


Poor  dear has  just  been  here  with  a  present '.     If  it 

ever  falls  in  your  way  to  do  him  good,  let  him  have  your  favour. 

Both  Queeney's  letter  and  yours  gave  me  to-day  great  pleasure. 

Think  as  well   and   as   kindly  of  me    as  you  can,  but  do  not 

flatter  me^    Cool  reciprocations  of  esteem  are  the  great  comforts 

of  life ;  hyperbolical  praise  only  corrupts  the  tongue  of  the  one, 

and  the  ear  of  the  other. 

I  am,  &c., 

London,  June  24,  1783.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

Your  letter  has  no  date. 


856. 

To  Mrs.  Porters 
Dear  Madam,  London,  June  25,  1783. 

Since  the  papers  have  given  an  account  of  my  illness,  it  is 
proper  that  I  should  give  my  friends  some  account  of  it  myself. 

Very  early  in  the  morning  of  the  i6th'^  of  this  month  I  per- 
ceived my  speech  taken  from  me.  When  it  was  light  I  sat  down 
and  wrote  such  directions  as  appeared  proper.  Dr.  Heberden 
and  Dr.  Brocklesby  were  called.  Blisters  were  applied,  and 
medicines  given.  Before  night  I  began  to  speak  with  some 
freedom,  which  has  been  increasing  ever  since,  so  that  I  have  now 
very  little  impediment  in  my  utterance.  Dr.  Heberden  took  his 
leave  this  morning^. 

Since  I  received  this  stroke  I  have  in  other  respects  been 
better  than  I  was  before,  and  hope  yet  to  have  a  comfortable 
summer.     Let  me  have  your  prayers. 


'  Perhaps  Tom  Davies  the  bank- 
rupt bookseller.  Ante,  ii.  64.  John- 
son writing  to  him  on  the  i8th  said 
that  he  was  *  strongly  affected  by 
Mrs.  Davies's  tenderness.'  Life,  iv. 
231.  When  he  was  dying  Davies  sent 
him  a  present  of  pork.  lb.  iv.  413, 
n.  2.  The  poor  fellow  may  have  hoped 
to  find  a  place  in  Johnson's  will. 

"It  was  in  vain  that  Johnson  had 
protested  against  her  habit  of  flattery. 
Ante,  i.  220-1,  313,  329. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well,  page  736. 


''  It  was  not  on  the  i6th,  but  very 
early  in  the  morning  of  the  17th  that 
he  was  attacked. 

^  Hawkins  found  the  following  note 
in  Johnson's  Diary  : — 
'June  16.     I  went  to  bed,  and,  as  I 
conceive,  about  3  in  the 
morning,  I  had  a  stroke 
of  the  palsy. 
„     17.     I  sent  for  Dr.  Heberden 
and  Dr.  Brocklesby.  God 
bless  them. 
„     25.     Dr.  Heberden  took  leave.' 
Hawkins's yi^/z«j<?«,  p.  558. 

If 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


309 


If  writing  is  not  troublesome,  let  me  know  whether  you  are 
pretty  well,  and  how  you  have  passed  the  winter  and  spring. 
Make  my  compliments  to  all  my  friends. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

857. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 

Dearest  Madam,  London,  June  28, 1783. 

Your  letter  is  just  such  as  I  desire,  and  as  from  you  I  hope 
always  to  deserve. 

The  black  dog  I  hope  always  to  resist,  and  in  time  to  drive, 
though  I  am  deprived  of  almost  all  those  that  used  to  help  me  ^. 
The  neighbourhood  is  impoverished.  I  had  once  Richardson 
and  Lawrence  in  my  reach.  Mrs.  Allen  is  dead.  My  house  has 
lost  Levet,  a  man  who  took  interest  in  every  thing,  and  therefore 
ready  at  conversation  ^  Mrs.  Williams  is  so  weak  that  she  can 
be  a  companion  no  longer.  When  I  rise  my  breakfast  is  solitary, 
the  black  dog  waits  to  share  it,  from  breakfast  to  dinner  he  con- 
tinues barking,  except  that  Dr.  Brocklesby  for  a  little  keeps  him 
at  a  distance.  Dinner  with  a  sick  woman  you  may  venture  to 
suppose  not  much  better  than  solitary"*.  After  dinner,  what 
remains  but  to  count  the  clock,  and  hope  for  that  sleep  which 
I  can  scarce  expect.  Night  comes  at  last,  and  some  hours  of 
restlessness  and  confusion  bring  me  again  to  a  day  of  solitude. 
What  shall  exclude  the  black  dog  from  an  habitation  like  this  ? 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  280. 

-  For  '  the  black  dog '  see  ante, 
ii.  73.  It  was  Mrs.  Thrale  and  her 
husband  who  had  saved  him  from  his 
severest  fit  of  depression  nearly 
twenty  years  earlier.  Ante,\.  332, «.  i. 

^  Johnson  alone  knew  of  his  merits 
as  a  converser,  for  '  he  seldom  said  a 
word  while  any  company  was  present.' 
Life,  i.  243.     See  ante,  ii.  295. 

■*  A  week  later  he  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Porter  : — '  I  live  now  but  in  a  melan- 


choly way.  My  old  friend  Mr.  Levett 
is  dead,  who  lived  with  me  in  the 
house,  and  was  useful  and  companion- 
able ;  Mrs.  Desmoulins  is  gone  away  ; 
and  Mrs.  Williams  is  so  much 
decayed,  that  she  can  add  little  to 
another's  gratifications.  The  world 
passes  away,  and  we  are  passing  with 
it  ;  but  there  is,  doubtless,  another 
world,  which  will  endure  for  ever. 
Let  us  all  fit  ourselves  for  it.'  lb. 
iv.  233. 

If 


o 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


If  I  were  a  little  richer,  I  would   perhaps  take  some  cheerful 
female  into  the  house. 

Your  Bath  news  shews  me  new  calamities.     I  am  afraid  Mrs. 

L s '  is  left  with  a  numerous  family,  very  slenderly  supplied. 

Mrs.  Sheward  is  an  old  maid,  I  am  afraid,  yet  sur  le  pave''. 

,  if  he  were  well,  would  be  well  enough  liked  ;  his  daughter 

has  powers  and  knowledge,  but  no  art  of  making  them  agreeable. 

I  must  touch  my  journal.  Last  night  fresh  flies  were  put  to 
my  head,  and  hindered  me  from  sleeping.  To-day  I  fancy  myself 
incommoded  by  heat. 

I  have,  however,  watered  the  garden  both  yesterday  and  to- 
day, just  as  I  watered  the  laurels  in  the  island  ^. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

858. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'*. 

Dear  Madam,  [June  30, 1783.] 

Among  those  that  have  enquired  after  me,  Sir  Philip  ^  is 

one;  and  Dr.  Burney  was  one  of  those  who  came  to  see  me^ 

I  have  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  indifference  or  neglect. 

Dick  Burney  is  come  home  five  inches  taller^. 


'  John  Lewis,  Dean  of  Ossory, 
who  had  married  Johnson's  friend 
Charlotte  Cotterel  [Lz/e,  i.  382),  died 
on  June  28.  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
1783,  p.  628. 

-  'Etre  sur  le  pav^,  n'avoir  point  de 
domicile,  et  fig.  n'avoir  point  de  con- 
dition, d'emploi.'     Littre. 

^  In  an  island  no  doubt  in  the  pool 
which  Mr.  Thrale  dug  at  Streatham. 
Ante,  i.  360.  Susan  Burney,  describ- 
ing her  visit  to  the  Thrales  in  1779, 
says  : — '  We  stroll'd  about  the  sweet 
plantations,  and  saw  the  summer- 
house,  and  Dick's  island.'  Early 
Diary  of  Frances  Burney,  ii.  259. 

*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  282. 

Mrs.  Piozzi  does  not  give  the  date 
of  this  letter.     Johnson  says,  '  yester- 


day I  went  to  church.'  His  letter  to 
Boswell  shows  that  it  was  on  Sunday 
that  he  went  to  church.  Life,  iv. 
232.     Sunday  was  the  29th. 

^  Sir  Philip  Jennings  Clerk.  Ante, 
ii.  142. 

*  Miss  Burney  records  in  her 
Journal  on  June  19,  that  hearing  of 
Johnson's  illness  she  and  her  father 
went  instantly  to  his  house.  '  He  had 
earnestly  desired  me,  when  we  lived 
so  much  together  at  Streatham,  to  see 
him  frequently  if  he  should  be  ill.  He 
saw  my  father  ;  but  he  had  medical 
people  with  him,  and  could  not 
admit  me  upstairs,  but  he  sent  me 
down  a  most  kind  message.'  Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  269. 

'  He  was  the  boy  whom  Johnson 

Yesterday 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.  Thi^ale. 


311 


Yesterday  in  the  evening  I  went  to  church,  and  have  been  to- 
day to  see  the  great  burning  glass,  which  does  more  than  was 
ever  done  before  by  the  transmission  of  the  rays,  but  is  not  equal 
in  power  to  those  which  reflect  them.  It  wastes  a  diamond  placed 
in  the  focus,  but  causes  no  diminution  of  pure  gold.  Of  the  rubies 
exposed  to  its  action,  one  was  made  more  vivid,  the  other  paler  ^ 
To  see  the  glass,  I  climbed  up  stairs  to  the  garret,  and  then  up 
a  ladder  to  the  leads,  and  talked  to  the  artist  rather  too  long ; 
for  my  voice,  though  clear  and  distinct  for  a  little  while,  soon 
tires  and  falters.  The  organs  of  speech  are  yet  very  feeble,  but 
will  I  hope  be  by  the  mercy  of  God  finally  restored  :  at  present, 
like  any  other  weak  limb,  they  can  endure  but  little  labour  at 
once.  Would  you  not  have  been  very  sorry  for  me  when  I  could 
scarcely  speak  ? 

Fresh  cantharides  were  this  morning  applied  to  my  head,  and 
are  to  be  continued  some  time  longer.  If  they  play  me  no 
treacherous  tricks,  they  give  me  very  little  pain. 

Let  me  have  your  kindness  and  your  prayers  ;  and  think  on 

me,  as  on  a  man  who,   for  a  very  great  portion   of  your  life, 

has  done  you   all   the  good    he  could,  and  desires  still   to  be 

considered,  v 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

859. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dearest  Madam,  London,  July  i,  1783. 

This  morning  I  took  the  air  by  a  ride  to  Hampstead^,  and 


five  years  or  so  earlier  had  accom- 
panied when  he  first  went  to  Win- 
chester School.  Life,  iii.  367,  and 
Early  Diary  of  Frances  Bitrney,  ii. 
284. 

'  In  the  Gentlefiiaft's  Magazine, 
for  1774,  p.  220,  an  account  is  given 
of  '  experiments  tried  with  Mr. 
Villette's  burning-glass  in  17 18.  A 
diamond  lost  seven-eighths  of  its 
weight.' 


^  Pioszi  Letters,  ii.  284. 

^  Hampstead,  which  is  now  joined 
to  London  by  an  unbroken  line  of 
houses,  is  described  in  1761  as  'a 
pleasant  village  situated  near  the  top 
of  a  hill  about  four  miles  on  the 
north-west  side  of  London.  On  the 
summit  of  this  hill  is  a  heath,  which 
is  adorned  with  many  gentlemen's 
houses.'  Dodsley's  London  and  its 
Environs,  iii.  134.     It  was  here  that 

this 


312 


To  Mrs.    Thrale. 


[A.D.1783. 


this  afternoon  I  dined  with  the  club  '.  But  fresh  cantharides 
were  this  day  applied  to  my  head. 

Mr.  Cator  called  on  nie  to-day,  and  told  that  he  had  invited 
you  back  to  Streatham.  I  shewed  the  unfitness  of  your  return 
thither,  till  the  neighbourhood  should  have  lost  its  habits  of  de- 
predation ^  and  he  seemed  to  be  satisfied.  He  invited  me  very 
kindly  and  cordially  to  try  the  air  of  Beckenham,  and  pleased  me 
very  much  by  his  affectionate  attention  to  Miss  Vezy.  There 
is  much  good  in  his  character,  and  much  usefulness  in  his 
knowledge  ^. 

Queeney  seems  now  to  have  forgotten  me.  Of  the  different 
appearance  of  the  hills  and  vallies  an  account  may  perhaps  be 
given,  without  the  supposition  of  any  prodigy.  If  she  had  been 
out  and  the  evening  was  breezy,  the  exhalations  would  rise  from 
the  low  grounds  very  copiously ;  and  the  wind  that  swept  and 


Johnson  in  1749  had  brought  his  sick 
wife  for  change  of  air,  and  it  was  here 
that  he  had  written  most,  if  not  the 
whole,  of  his  Vanity  of  Human 
Wishes.     Life,  \.  192. 

'  Miss  Burney  records  : — '  I  had 
the  satisfaction  to  hear  from  Sir 
Joshua  that  Dr.  Johnson  had  dined 
with  him  at  the  Club.  I  called  the 
next  morning  to  congratulate  him, 
and  found  him  very  gay  and  very 
good-humoured.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary.,  ii.  271.  In  her  Memoirs  of 
Dr.  Burney,  ii.  345,  she  adds  that  she 
offered  to  make  his  tea.  He  had 
given  her  his  own  large  arm-chair 
which  was  too  heavy  for  her  to  move 
to  the  table.  '  "  Sir,"  quoth  she,  "  I 
am  in  the  wrong  chair."  "  It  is  so 
difficult,"  cried  he  with  quickness, 
"  for  anything  to  be  wrong  that  be- 
longs to  you,  that  it  can  only  be  I 
that  am  in  the  wrong  chair  to  keep 
you  from  the  right  one." '  He  kept 
her  for  two  hours,  and  '  endeavoured 
most  earnestly  to  engage  her  to  stay 
and  dine  with  him  and  Mrs.  Williams.' 

'  For  Mr.Cator,oneof  Mr.Thrale's 
executors,    see    ante,    ii.    128,    n.  4. 


The  '  habits  of  depredation '  were 
testified  to  by  the  capital  convictions. 
At  the  Surrey  Summer  Assizes  nine 
men  were  sentenced  to  death  for 
robberies,  and  at  the  Old  Bailey  '  a 
very  long  and  fatiguing  session  '  was 
brought  to  a  close  on  August  2  by 
the  same  sentence  passed  on  twelve 
robbers.  Gentleman' s Magasine,\7?i^, 
p.  710.  Horace  Walpole,  writing 
on  June  20,  says  that  some  young 
ladies  who  were  visiting  Strawberry 
Hill,  on  evening  coming  on,  '  were 
seized  with  a  panic  of  highwaymen, 
and  wanted  to  go.  I  laughed  and 
said,  I  believed  there  was  no  danger, 
for  that  I  had  not  been  robbed  these 
two  years.  However  I  was  not  quite 
in  the  right  ;  they  were  stopped  in 
Knightsbridge  by  two  footpads.' 
Letters,  viii.  381. 

■^  Boswell  quotes  this  praise  of 
Cator  and  adds:  — 'Dr.  Johnson 
found  a  cordial  solace  at  that  gentle- 
man's seat  at  Beckenham,  in  Kent, 
which  is  indeed  one  of  the  finest 
places  at  which  I  ever  was  a  guest ; 
and  where  I  find  more  and  more  a 
hospitable  welcome.'     Life.  iv.  313. 

cleared 


Aetat.  73.J  To  Mvs.    Tlivale.  -x  I 


o^o 


cleared  the  hills,  would  only  by  its  cold  condense  the  vapours  of 
the  sheltered  vallies '. 

Murphy  is  just  gone  from  me  ;  he  visits  me  very  kindly,  and  I 
have  no  unkindness  to  complain  of  ^ 

I  am  sorry  that  Sir  Philip's  ^  request  was  not  treated  with 
more  respect,  nor  can  I  imagine  what  has  put  them  so  much  out 
of  humour  :  I  hope  their  business  is  prosperous. 

I  hope  that  I  recover  by  degrees,  but  my  nights  are  restless  ; 
and  you  will  suppose  the  nervous  system  to  be  somewhat  en- 
feebled. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


860. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dear   Madam,  London,  July  3,  1783. 

Dr.  Brocklesby  yesterday  dismissed  the  cantharides,  and  I 

can  now  find  a  soft  place  upon  my  pillow.     Last  night  was  cool, 

and  I  rested  well,  and  this  morning  I  have  been  a  friend  at  a 

poetical  difficulty  ^.     Here  is  now  a  glimpse  of  day-light  again  ; 

but   how  near   is   the   evening — none  can  tell,  and   I   will  not 

prognosticate ;  we  all  know  that  from  none  of  us  it  can  be  far 

distant  ;  may  none  of  us  know  this  in  vain  ! 

I  went,  as  I  took  care  to  boast,  on  Tuesday,  to  the  club  ^,  and 

'  St& post,  p.  320,  n.  I.  wrote  verses,  but  who  literally  had 

-  Murphy  says  that  he  found  him  no  other  notion  of  a  verse,  but  that 

reading    Dr.    Watson's    CJiymistry.  it   consisted   of  ten    syllables.     Lay 

'Articulating      with     difficulty     he  your  knife  and  your  fork,  across  your 

said  : — "  From   this    book    he   who  plate,  was  to  him  a  verse  : 

knows  nothing   may   learn   a  great  Lay  your  knife  and  your  fork,  across 

deal,   and    he   who   knows    will    be  your  plate. 

pleased  to  find  his  knowledge  recalled  As  he  wrote  a  great  number  of  verses, 

to    his    mind   in    a   manner  highly  he  sometimes  by  chance  made  good 

pleasing."'     Murphy's  Zz/i?  ^yi^/wz-  ones,  though    he    did   not  know  it.' 

son,  p.  121.  Life,  ii.  51. 

^  Sir  Philip  Jennings  Clerk.  *  At  this  meeting  of  the  Club  the 

"  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  286.  father  of  Lord  Palmerston,  the  prime- 

^  Perhaps  some  author  had  sought  minister,  was  proposed,  and  against 

his  aid.     '  I  used  once,'  he  said,  '  to  Johnson's  opinion  was  rejected.     lb. 

be  sadly  plagued  with  a  man  who  iv.  232. 

hear 


314  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  i783. 


:) 


hear  that  I  was  thought  to  have  performed  as  well  as  usual.  I 
dined  on  fish,  with  the  wing  of  a  small  Turkey  chick,  and  left 
roast  beef,  goose,  and  venison  pye  untouched.  I  live  much  on 
peas,  and  never  had  them  so  good,  for  so  long  a  time,  in  any  year 
that  I  can  remember. 

When  do  you  go  to  Weymouth  ?  and  why  do  you  go  ?  only  I 
suppose  to  a  new  place,  and  the  reason  is  sufficient  to  those  who 
have  no  reason  to  withhold  them. 

*  «  *  *  knows  well  enough  how  to  live  on  four  hundred  a  year, 
but  where  is  he  to  have  it  ?  Had  *  *  »  »  any  thing  of  his  own 
unsettled  ? 

I  am  glad  that  Mrs.  Sheward  talks  of  me,  and  loves  me,  and 
have  in  this  still  scene  of  life  great  comfort  in  reflecting  that  I 
have  given  very  few  reason  to  hate  me ' :  I  hope  scarcely  any 
man  has  known  me  closely  but  for  his  benefit,  or  cursorily  but 
to  his  innocent  entertainment.  Tell  me,  you  that  know  me  best, 
whether  this  be  true,  that  according  to  your  answer  I  may  con- 
tinue my  practice,  or  try  to  mend  it. 

Along  with  your  kind  letter  yesterday  came  one  likewise  very 

kind  from  the  Astons  at  Lichfield ;  but  I  do  not  know  whether, 

as  the  summer  is  so  far  advanced,  I  shall  travel  so  far,  though  I 

am  not  without  hopes  that  frequent  change  of  air  may  fortify  me 

against  the  winter,  which  has  been,  in  modern  phrase,  of  late 

years  very  inimical'  to. 

Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

861. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  July  3,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  231. 


'  Johnson,  who  had  seen  Chester-  hate  you  more  and  longer  than  if  you 

field's  Letters  to  his  Son,  might  have  tell  him  plainly  that  you  think  him  a 

thought  differently  had  his  eye  fallen  rogue.'     Vol.  ii.  p.  58.     See  the  Lt/e, 

on    the    passage    where    the   writer  iv.  280,  for  the  comical  scene  when 

says  : — '  Men   are    much    more   un-  Langton  pointed  out  to  Johnson  that 

willing  to  have  their  weaknesses  and  he  thought  him  deficient  in  Christian 

their  imperfections  known  than  their  charity,  and  Johnson  '  belaboured  his 

crimes  ;    and  if  you  hint  to  a  man  confessor.' 

that  you  think    him  silly,  ignorant,  -  Inimical    is    not    in     Johnson's 

or  even  ill-bred,  or  awkward,  he  will  Dictionary. 

To 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.    Thrale. 


15 


882. 
To  Mrs.  Porter. 
London,  July  5,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  232. 


863. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear   Madam,  London,  July  5,  1783. 

That  Dr.  ^^  *  *  *-  is  offended  I  am  very  sorry,  but  if  the  same 

state  of  things  should  recur,  I  could  not  do  better.    Dr.  Brocklesby 

is,  you  know,  my  neighbour,  and  could  be  ready  at  call ;  he  had 

for  some  time  very  diligently  solicited  my  friendship  :  I  depended 

much  upon  the  skill  of  Dr.  Heberden,  and  him  I  had  seen  lately 

at  Brocklesby's.     Heberden  I  could  not  bear  to  miss,  Brocklesby 

could  not  decently  be  missed,  and  to  call  three,  had  made  me 

ridiculous  by  the  appearance  of  self-importance.     Mine  was  one 

of  those  unhappy  cases  in  which  something  must  be  wrong.      I 

can  only  be  sorry. 

I  have  now  no  Doctor,  but  am  left  to  shift  for  myself  as  op- 
portunity shall  serve.  I  am  going  next  week  with  *  *  ♦  »  to 
*  »  *  » ^,  where  I  expect  not  to  stay  long.  Eight  children  in  a 
small  house  will  probably  make  a  chorus  not  very  diverting.  My 
purpose  is  to  change  the  air  frequently  this  summer. 

Of  the  imitation  of  my  stile,  in  a  criticism  on  Gray's  Church- 
yard, I  forgot  to  make  mention.  The  author  is,  I  believe,  utterly 
unknown,  for  Mr.  Steevens  cannot  hunt  him  out  ^.  I  know  little 
of  it,  for  though  it  was  sent  me  I  never  cut  the  leaves  open.  I 
had  a  letter  with  it  representing  it  to  me  as  my  own  work  ;  in 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  288. 

^  Probably  either  Pepys  or  Jebb. 

^  With  Langton  to  Rochester. 
Ante,  ii.  164,  11.  2,  and/^i-/,  p.  317. 

''  The  book  was  entitled  A  Criti- 
cism on  Gray's  Elegy  in  a  Country 
Churchyard,  and  the  author  was  John 
Young,  a  Glasgow  Professor.  Life, 
iv.  392.  Mme.  D'Arblay  describes 
him  as  *  a  man  whose  learning  sits 
upon     him     far    Hghter     than    Mr. 


Broome's  [her  new  brother-in-law]. 
He  has  as  much  native  humour  as  he 
has  acquired  erudition  ;  he  has  a  face 
that  looks  all  honesty  and  kindness, 
and  manners  gentle  and  humble.  I 
had  expected  a  sharp,  though  amus- 
ing, satirist,  from  his  very  comic  but 
sarcastic  imitation  of  Dr.  Johnson's 
Lives.^  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
vi.  194. 

such 


3 1 6  To  Miss  Siisafina    Thrale.  [a.d.  i783. 

such  an  account  to  the  pubHck  there  may  be  humour,  but  to 
myself  it  was  neither  serious  nor  comical.  I  suspect  the  writer 
to  be  wrongheaded  ;  as  to  the  noise  which  it  makes  I  have  never 
heard  it,  and  am  inclined  to  believe  that  few  attacks  either  of 
ridicule  or  invective  make  much  noise,  but  by  the  help  of  those 
that  they  provoke '. 

I  think  Queeney's  silence  has  something  either  of  laziness  or 
unkindness ;  and  I  wish  her  free  from  both,  for  both  are  very 
unamiable,  and  will  both  increase  by  indulgence.  Susy  is  I  be- 
lieve at  a  loss  for  matter.  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  pretty  Sophy's 
production. 

I  hope  I  still  continue  mending.     My  organs  are  yet  feeble. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

864. 

To  Miss  Susanna  Thrale  ^ 

Dearest  Miss  Susy,  [About  July  s,  1783.] 

When  you  favoured  me  with  your  letter,  you  seemed  to  be 
in  want  of  materials  to  fill  it,  having  met  with  no  great  adventures 
either  of  peril  or  delight,  nor  done  or  suffered  any  thing  out  of 
the  common  course  of  life. 

When  you  have  lived  longer,  and  considered  more,  you  will 
find  the  common  course  of  life  very  fertile  of  observation  and 
reflection.  Upon  the  common  course  of  life  must  our  thoughts 
and  our  conversation  be  generally  employed.  Our  general  course 
of  life  must  denominate  us  wise  or  foolish  ;  happy  or  miserable  : 
if  it  is  well  regulated  we  pass  on  prosperously  and  smoothly;  as 
it  is  neglected  we  live  in  embarrassment,  perplexity,  and  un- 
easiness. 

Your  time,  my  love,  passes,  I  suppose,  in  devotion,  reading, 
work,  and  company.  Of  your  devotions,  in  which  I  earnestly 
advise  you  to  be  very  punctual,  you  may  not  perhaps  think  it 
proper  to  give  me  an  account  ;  and  of  work,  unless  I  understood 

'  See  Life,  ii.  6i,  n.  4,  for  parallel  ■'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  290. 

passages   from    Johnson    and    other  For  Susanna  Thrale  see  ante,  i. 

authors.  354  ;  ii-  44- 

it 


Aetat.  73.]  To   Mts.  Tkrak.  3  I  7 


it  better,  it  will  be  of  no  great  use  to  say  much  ;  but  books  and 

company  will  always  supply  you  with  materials  for  your  letters 

to  me,  as  I  shall  always  be  pleased  to  know  what  you  are  reading, 

and  with  what  you  are  pleased  ;  and  shall  take  great  delight  in 

knowing  what  impression  new  modes  or  new  characters  make 

upon  you,  and  to  observe  with  what  attention  you  distinguish 

the  tempers,  dispositions,  and  abilities  of  your  companions. 

A  letter  may  be  always  made  out  of  the  books  of  the  morning 

or  talk  of  the  evening  ;  and  any  letters  from  you,  my  dearest,  will 

be  welcome  to 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

865. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale\ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  July  8,  1783. 

Time  makes  great  changes  of  opinion.  *  *  »  »  ran  per- 
petually after   in  the  lifetime   of  that  lady,  to  whom  he 

so  earnestly  desired   to  be  reunited   in   the  grave.     I  am  glad 

^  is  not  left  in  poverty,  her  disease  seems  to  threaten  her 

with  a  full  share  of  misery. 

Of  Miss  H ^,  whom  you  charge  me  with  forgetting,  I  know 

not  why  I  should  much  foster  the  remembrance,  for  I  can  do  her 
no  good ;  but  I  honestly  recommend  her  to  your  pity ;  for 
nothing  but  the  opportunity  of  emptying  her  bosom  with  con- 
fidence can  save  her  from  madness.  To  know  at  least  one  mind 
so  disordered  is  not  without  its  use  ;  it  shows  the  danger  of  ad- 
mitting passively  the  first  irruption  of  irregular  imaginations. 

Langton  and  I  have  talked  of  passing  a  little  time  at 
Rochester  together,  till  neither  knows  well  how  to  refuse,  though 
I  think  he  is  not  eager  to  take  me,  and  I  am  not  desirous  to  be 
taken '^.     His  family  is  numerous,  and  his  house  little.     I  have 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  292.  recorded  this  month*: — 'Mr.  Cam- 

°  Probably  Mrs.  L s  mentioned  bridge    asked    after    Dr.    Johnson's 

ante,\\.  2)io.  health.  "  He  isverymuch  recovered," 

^  Atite,  ii.  298.  I  answered,  "and  out  of  town  at  Mr. 

*  For  Johnson's  visit  to  Rochester  Langton's.     And  there  I  hope  he  will 

see  Life,  iv.  8,  22,  233.  Miss  Burney  entertain  him  with  enough  of  Greek." 

*  The  entry  is  misdated  '  Feb.  23.'     It  was  certainly  written  in  July. 

let 


3 1 8  To   William  Strahan.  [a.d.  i783. 

let  him  know,  for  his  relief,  that  I  do  not  mean  to  burden  him 
more  than  a  week.  He  is  however  among  those  who  wish  me 
well,  and  would  exert  what  power  he  has  to  do  me  good. 

I  think  you  will  do  well  in  going  to  Weymouth,  for  though  it 
be  nothing,  it  is,  at  least  to  the  young  ones,  a  new  nothing,  and 
they  will  be  able  always  to  tell  that  they  have  seen  Weymouth  ^ 
I  am  for  the  present  willing  enough  to  persuade  myself,  that  a  short 
succession  of  trifles  may  contribute  to  my  re-establishment,  but 
hope  to  return,  for  it  is  surely  time,  to  something  of  importance. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

866. 

To  .  July  II,  1783- 

In  Messrs.  Puttickand  Simpson's  Auction  Catalogue  of  July  16,  1866, 
Lot  275  is  an  autograph  of  Johnson: — 'Note  on  a  card,  July  11,  1783.' 

867. 

ctt^  To  William  Strahan  ^. 

I  have  enclosed  the  receipt ;  and  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Williams  ^ 
which  you  [will]  do  me  the  favour  of  sending  to  her. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Cambridge,  "and  It  was  here  that  the  Queen  read 
make  his  son  repeat  the  Hebrew  aloud  to  Miss  Burney  Mrs.  Piozzi's 
alphabet  to  him."  '  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Journey.  Here  Mrs.  Gwynn,  the 
Diary,  ii.  260.  Johnson  complained  younger  of  the  Miss  Hornecks  {a?ite, 
that  '  Langton  had  his  children  too  i.  344),  '  talked  over  with  Miss 
much  about  him.'  Life,  iii.  128.  Burney  anecdotes  of  their  former 
'  It  was  six  years  later  that  by  the  acquaintances  —  Dr.  Johnson,  Sir 
visit  of  George  III  and  his  Court  Joshua  Reynolds,  Mrs.  Thrale, 
Weymouth  became  famous.  Miss  Baretti,  and  her  old  admirer,  Dr. 
Burney  has  described  '  the  band  of  Goldsmith,  of  whom  she  relates — as 
music  concealed  in  a  neighbouring  who  does  not  ?  a  thousand  ridiculous 
bathing-machine,  which  the  moment  traits.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  v. 
he  popped  his  royal  head  under  36.  If  only  Miss  Burney  had  been 
water  struck  up  God  save  great  as  careful  in  recording  these  anec- 
Great  George  our  King^  She  has  dotes,  as  she  always  was  with  the 
told  us  too  of  the  Mayor  who  refused  compliments  paid  to  her  as  an  author, 
to  kneel  when  the  Queen  offered  her  how  grateful  should  we  have  been, 
hand  for  him  to  kiss.  '"You  should  "  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
have  knelt,  Sir,"  said  Colonel  Gwynn.  sion  of  Mr.  John  Graham,  of  the 
"  Sir,"  answered  the  poor  Mayor,  "  I  Scottish  Club,  Dover  Street, 
cannot."  "  Everybody  does.  Sir."  ^  Perhaps  Johnson  had  received  a 
"Sir, — I      have     a     wooden     leg."'  further  payment  for  his  Journev  to 

The 


Aetat  73.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


319 


The  house  where  I  am,  is  very  airy,  and  pleasant,  and  over- 
looks the  Medway  where  the  channel  is  very  broad,  so  that  I 
hardly  imagine  a  habitation  more  likely  to  promote  health,  nor 
have  I  much  reason  to  complain  ;  My  general  health  is  better 
than  it  has  been  for  some  years — My  breath  is  more  free,  and 
my  nights  are  less  disturbed.  But  my  utterance  is  still  impeded, 
and  my  voice  soon  grows  weary  with  long  sentences.  This,  I 
hope,  time  will  remedy.     I  hope  dear  Mrs.  Strahan  continues 

well. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 

Rochester,  July  15,  1783.  SaM:    JOHNSON. 

To  William  Strahan,  Esq.,  M.P.,  London. 

868. 
To  Miss  Williams. 
Rochester,  July  15,  1783.     Mentioned  in  the  last  Letter. 

869. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 
Dear   Madam,  London,  July  23,  1783. 

I  have  been  thirteen  days  at  Rochester,  and  am  just  now 

returned.    I  came  back  by  water  in  a  common  boat  twenty  miles 

for  a  shilling,  and  when  I  landed  at  Billingsgate  I  carried  my 

budget  myself  to  Cornhill  before  I  could  get  a  coach,  and  was 

not  much  incommoded  ^. 


the  Hebrides.  The  Letter  to  Mrs. 
Williams  has  not,  I  fear,  been  pre- 
served. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  294. 

^  Johnson  had  taken  boat  at 
Gravesend.  In  Dodsley's  London 
and  its  Environs,  1761,  iii.  55,  vi. 
266,  it  is  stated  that  '  the  Watermen's 
Company  are  by  act  of  parliament 
obliged  to  provide  officers  at  Billings- 
gate and  at  Gravesend,  who,  at  every 
time  of  high  water  by  night  and  day, 
are  at  their  respective  places  to  ring 
publicly  a  bell  for  fifteen  minutes,  to 
give  notice  to  the  tilt  boats  and 
wherries  to  put  off;  and  coaches  ply 


at  Gravesend  at  the  landing  of  people 
from  London  to  carry  them  to 
Rochester.'  At  Gravesend  surely  the 
bell  was  rung  at  low  tide,  so  that  the 
boat  might  be  carried  up  on  the  flow. 
By  the  tilt-boat  which  carried  forty 
passengers  the  fare  was  nine-pence  ; 
by  the  wherry  which  carried  only 
ten,  a  shilling.  From  Billingsgate  the 
most  convenient  way  for  Johnson 
would  have  been  to  take  a  sculling- 
boat  to  the  Temple  Stairs,  but  doubt- 
less the  state  of  the  tide  rendered  it 
impossible  or  at  least  dangerous  to 
pass  under  London  Bridge,  where 
there  often  was  a  fall  of  five  feet. 

I  have 


320  To  Miss  Sophia   Thrale.  [a.d.  1783. 

I  have  had  Miss  Susy's  and  Miss  Sophy's  letters,  and  now  I 
am  come  home  can  write  and  write.  While  I  was  with  Mr.  Lang- 
ton  we  took  four  little  journies  in  a  chaise,  and  made  one  little 
voyage  on  the  Medway,  with  four  misses  and  their  maid,  but 
they  were  very  quiet. 

I  am  very  well,  except  that  my  voice  soon  faulters,  and  I  have 
not  slept  well,  which  I  imputed  to  the  heat,  which  has  been  such 
as  I  never  felt  before  for  so  long  time '.  Three  days  we  had  of 
very  great  heat  about  ten  years  ago.  I  infer  nothing  from  it  but 
a  good  harvest. 

Whether  this  short  rustication  ^  has  done  me  any  good  I  cannot 
tell,  I  certainly  am  not  worse,  and  am  very  willing  to  think  my- 
self better.  Are  you  better  ?  Sophy  gave  but  a  poor  account  of 
you.     Do  not  let  your  mind  wear  out  your  body. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

870. 

To  Miss  Sophia  Thrale  ^ 
Dearest  Miss  Sophy,  London,  July  24, 1783. 

By  an  absence  from  home,  and  for  one  reason  and  another, 

Pennant's  London,  ed.  1790,  p.  296.  constant  mist  that  gives  no  dew,  but 

See  Life,  i.  458,  n.  2.  might  as  well  be  smoke.     The  sun 

Budget  Johnson  defines  as  '  a  bag,  sets  like  a  pewter  plate  red-hot  ;  and 

such  as  may  be  easily  carried.'     The  then  in  a  moment  appears  the  moon, 

sense  in  which  it  is  now  commonly  atadistance,  of  the  same  complexion, 

used,  as  '  the  yearly  financial  state-  just  as  the   same  orb  in  a  moving 

ment  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Ex-  picture   serves    for   both.'      Letters, 

chequer,'  is  not  given   in  his   Die-  viii.    386.       'In    1783    Europe    was 

iio7iary.       In  his    Letter  to  Taylor,  covered  with  a  dense  dry  haze  for 

post,  p.  322,  he  calls  his  budget  his  several  months  during  the  summer, 

portmanteau.  and    the  sun  was  shorn  of  its  rays 

'  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  July  during  a  long  period  of  dry  weather. 

15: — 'As  much  as   I   love  to  have  The  haze  extended  from  the  sea-level 

summer  in    summer,  I  am  tired  of  to  an  elevation  higher  than  the  tops 

this  weather —  of  the   Alps.      It   followed    a   great 

"  The  dreaded  east  is  all  the  wind  eruption  in  Iceland.'     The  Eruption 

that  blows  *."  of  Krakatoa,  p.  195. 
It  parches  the  leaves,  makes  the  turf  -  Rusticatio?i  is  not  in  Johnson's 

crisp,    claps    the    doors,   blows   the  Dictionary. 
papers  about,  and   keeps   one   in  a  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  295. 

♦   The  Rape  of  the  lock,  iv.  20. 

I  owe 


Aetat.  73.]  To  Miss  Sopkia   Tlirale.  321 

I  owe  a  great  number  of  letters,  and  I  assure  you  that  I  sit  down 
to  write  yours  first.  Why  you  should  think  yourself  not  a 
favourite,  I  cannot  guess  ;  my  favour  will,  I  am  afraid,  never  be 
worth  much  ;  but  be  its  value  more  or  less,  you  are  never  likely 
to  lose  it,  and  less  likely  if  you  continue  your  studies  with  the 
same  diligence  as  you  have  begun  them. 

Your  proficience  in  arithmetick  is  not  only  to  be  commended, 
but  admired.  Your  master  does  not,  I  suppose,  come  very  often, 
nor  stay  very  long ;  yet  your  advance  in  the  science  of  numbers 
is  greater  than  is  commonly  made  by  those  who,  for  so  many 
weeks  as  you  have  been  learning,  spend  six  hours  a  day  in  the 
writing  school '. 

Never  think,  my  Sweet,  that  you  have  arithmetick  enough  ; 
when  you  have  exhausted  your  master,  buy  books.  Nothing 
amuses  more  harmlessly  than  computation,  and  nothing  is  oftener 
applicable  to  real  business  or  speculative  enquiries.  A  thousand 
stories  which  the  ignorant  tell,  and  believe,  die  away  at  once, 
when  the  computist  takes  them  in  his  gripe.  I  hope  you  will 
cultivate  in  yourself  a  disposition  to  numerical  enquiries;  they 
will  give  you  entertainment  in  solitude  by  the  practice,  and  re- 
putation in  publick  by  the  effect". 

If  you  can  borrow  Wil kins' s  Real  Character^,  a  folio,  which 

'  By    writing-school   Johnson,    I  i.  72,  and   for   instances  v/here   '  he 

think,  meant  that    part   of  a  public  takes  stories  in  his  gripe,'  ib.  iv.  171, 

school    in    which    English    subjects  204. 

were  taught.  ^  An     Essay     towards    a     Real 

"  '  Useful,  and  what  we  call  every-  Character  and  a  Philosophical 
day  knowledge  had  the  most  of  Language,  by  John  Wilkins,  D.D., 
Johnson's  just  praise.  "Let  your  1668.  Wilkins  was  at  one  time 
boy  learn  arithmetic,  dear  Madam,"  Warden  of  Wadham  College,  and 
was  his  advice  to  the  mother  of  a  afterwards  Bishop  of  Chester.  He 
rich  young  heir.  "  He  will  not  then  married  a  sister  of  Oliver  Cromwell, 
be  a  prey  to  every  rascal  which  this  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
town  swarms  with ;  teach  him  the  Royal  Society.  Burnet  describes 
value  of  money,  and  how  to  reckon  him  as  '  a  great  observer  and  a  pro- 
it.  Ignorance  to  a  wealthy  lad  of  one  moter  of  experimental  philosophy, 
and  twenty  is  only  so  much  fat  to  a  which  was  then  a  new  thing,  and 
sick  sheep  ;  it  just  serves  to  call  the  much  looked  after.'  History  of  His 
rooks  about  him."'  Piozzi's  Anec-  Oicfi  Times,  ed.  1818,  i.2oy.  Accord- 
dotes,  p.  195.  The  boy  was  no  doubt  ing  to  Addison,  'the  Bishop  was  so 
Sir  John  Lade.  Ante, u.igi,n.i.  For  confident  of  success  in  theart  of  flying 
Johnson's  love  of  arithmetic  see  Li/e,  that  he  says  he  does  not  question  but 

VOL.  IL  Y  the 


322 


To  the  Reverend  D7\   Taylor.         Ja.d.  itss. 


the  bookseller  can  perhaps  let  you  have,  you  will  have  a  very 
curious  calculation,  which  you  are  qualified  to  consider,  to  shew 
that  Noah's  ark  was  capable  of  holding  all  the  known  animals 
of  the  world,  with  provision  for  all  the  time  in  which  the  earth 
was  under  water.     Let  me  hear  from  you  soon  again. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


871. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 

Dear  Sir, 

When  your  letter  came  to  me  I  was  with  Mr.  Langton  at 
Rochester.  I  was  suspicious  that  you  were  ill.  He  that  goes 
away,  you  know,  is  to  write,  and  for  some  time  I  expected  a  letter 
every  post. 

My  general  health  is  undoubtedly  better  than  before  the 
seizure.  Yesterday  I  came  from  Gravesend  by  water,  and  carried 
my  portmanteau  from  Billingsgate  to  Cornhil  \sic\.  before  I  could 
get  a  coach ',  nor  did  I  find  any  great  inconvenience  in  doing  it. 


in  the  next  age  it  will  be  as  usual  to 
hear  a  man  call  for  his  wings  when 
he  is  going  a  journey  as  it  is  now  to 
call  for  his  boots.'  The  Gtcardian, 
No.  112. 

In  a  '  Digression  '  Wilkins  replies 
to  '  hereticks  of  old  and  Atheistical 
scoffers  in  these  later  times  who  have 
confidently  affirmed  that  it  was 
utterly  impossible  for  the  Ark  to  hold 
so  vast  a  multitude  of  Animals,  with 
a  whole  year's  provision  of  food  for 
each  of  them.'  He  calculates  that 
'  the  beasts  of  the  rapacious  carni- 
vorous kinds  were  but  forty  in  all  or 
twenty  pairs,  which  upon  a  fair  calcu- 
lation are  supposed  equivalent,  as  to 
the  bulk  of  their  bodies  and  their 
food,  unto  twenty-seven  Wolves  ;  but 
for  greater  certainty  let  them  be  sup- 
posed equal  to  thirty  Wolves  ;  and 
let  it  be  further  supposed  that   six- 


Wolves  will  every  day  devour  a  whole 
Sheep ;  according  to  this  computa- 
tion live  Sheep  must  be  allotted  to  be 
devoured  for  food  each  day  of  the 
year,  which  amounts  in  the  whole  to 
1825.'  He  gives  a  picture  and  a 
plan  showing  how  all  the  animals 
and  their  food  can  be  stowed  away. 
P.  166. 

*  First  published  in  Notes  and 
Queries,  6th  S.  v.  481. 

-  Hume,  writing  of  the  year  1635, 
says  : — '  There  remains  a  proclama- 
tion of  this  year  prohibiting  hackney- 
coaches  from  standing  in  the  street. 
We  are  told  that  there  were  not 
above  twenty  coaches  of  that  kind  in 
London.  There  are  at  present  near 
eight  hundred.'  HisL  of  Eng.,  ed. 
"^ITii  vi.  308.  In  the  first  edition 
he  had  said  'above  a  thousand'  and 
in  the  second  '  near  a  thousand.'     In 

My 


Aetat.  73.]  To  Miss  Susantia   Thrale.  323 

My  voice  in  the  exchange  of  salutations,  or  on  other  little 
occasions,  is  as  it  was,  but  in  a  continuance  of  conversation  it 
soon  tires.  I  hope  it  grows  stronger,  but  it  does  not  make  very- 
quick  advance. 

I  hope  you  continue  well,  or  grow  every  day  better ;  yet  the 
time  will  come  when  one  of  us  shall  lose  the  other.  May  it  come 
upon  neither  of  us  unprepared. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

July  24,  1783. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

872. 

To  Miss  Susanna  Thrale  '. 

Dear  Miss  Susan,  London,  July  26, 1783. 

I  answer  your  letter  last,  because  it  was  received  last ;  and 
when  I  have  answered  it,  I  am  out  of  debt  to  your  house.  A 
short  negligence  throws  one  behindhand.  This  maxim,  if  you 
consider  and  improve  it,  will  be  equivalent  to  your  parson  and 
bird,  which  is  however  a  very  good  story,  as  it  shews  how  far 
gluttony  may  proceed,  which  where  it  prevails  is  I  think  more 
violent,  and  certainly  more  despicable,  than  avarice  itself. 

Gluttony  is,  I  think,  less  common  among  women  than  among 
men  ^.  Women  commonly  eat  more  sparingly,  and  are  less 
curious  in  the  choice  of  meat ;  but  if  once  you  find  a  woman 
gluttonous,  expect  from  her  very  little  virtue.  Her  mind  is  en- 
slaved to  the  lowest  and  grossest  temptation. 

A  friend  of  mine,  who  courted  a  lady  of  whom  he  did  not 
know  much,  was  advised  to  see  her  eat,  and  if  she  was  voluptuous 
at  table,  to  forsake  her.  He  married  her  however,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  came  to  his  adviser  with  this  exclamation,  '  It  is  the  dis- 
turbance of  my  life  to  see  this  woman  eat.'     She  was,  as  might 

Dodsley's  London,  1761,  iii.  124,  it  is  the  number  of  the  coaches  had  risen 

stated  : — '  The  number  of  coaches  is  to  a  thousand.     Life,  iv.  330. 

limited  to  eight  hundred.     The  fare  '  Piozsi  Letters,  ii.  297. 

for  any  distance  not  exceeding  a  mile  ^  For  Johnson's  own  love  of  good 

and  a  half  is  one  shilling.'     By  1784  eating  see  Life,  i.  467. 

Y  2  be 


324 


To  Mrs.    Tkrale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


be  expected,  selfish  and  brutal,  and  after  some  years  of  discord 
they  parted,  and  I  believe  came  together  no  more. 

Of  men,  the  examples  are  sufficiently  common.  I  had  a  friend, 
of  great  eminence  in  the  learned  and  the  witty  world,  who  had 
hung  up  some  pots  on  his  wall  to  furnish  nests  for  sparrows.  The 
poor  sparrows,  not  knowing  his  character,  were  seduced  by  the 
convenience,  and  I  never  heard  any  man  speak  of  any  future  en- 
joyment with  such  contortions  of  delight  as  he  exhibited,  when 
he  talked  of  eating  the  young  ones  '. 

When  you  do  me  the  favour  to  write  again,  tell  me  something 
of  your  studies,  your  work,  or  your  amusements. 

I  am.  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

873. 

To  William  Cumberland  Cruikshank. 

London,  July  30,  1783.  Mentioned  with  other  letters  to  the  same 
surgeon  in  the  Life,  iv.  240. 

874. 

To  Dr.  John  Mudge. 

London,  July  and  August,  1783.  Several  Letters  from  which  extracts 
are  given  in  the  Life,  iv.  240. 

875. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dear   Madam,  London,  August  13,  1783. 

Your  letter  was  brought  just  as  I  was  complaining  that  you 
had  forgotten  mc. 


'  According  to  Mrs.  Piozzi  this 
friend  was  Isaac  Hawkins  Browne. 
Hay  ward's  Piozzi,  i.  320.  '  The 
pretty  Mrs.  Chohnondely  said  she 
was  soon  tired  of  him,  because  the 
first  hour  he  was  so  dull,  there  was 
no  bearing  him  ;  the  second  he  was 
so  witty,  there  was  no  bearing  him  ; 
the  third  he  was  so  drunk,  there  was 
no  bearing  him.'  lb.  i.  152.  '  He 
drank   freely  for   thirty  years,'  said 


Johnson,  '  and  wrote  his  poem  De 
Atii/>ii  Immortalitate  in  some  of  the 
last  of  these  years.'  Life,  v.  156. 
According  to  Mrs.  Piozzi  {Anecdotes, 
p.  173),  Johnson  spoke  of  him  as 
'  the  most  delightful  converser  with 
whom  he  ever  was  in  company.'  In 
Campbell's  Br  it  is  li  Poets  are  given 
specimens  of  his  verses. 
^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  299. 

I    am 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


325 


I  am  g^lad  that  the  ladies  find  so  much  novelty  at  Weymouth. 
Ovid  says,  that  the  sun  is  undelightfully  uniform  '.  They  had 
some  expectation  of  shells,  which  both  by  their  form  and  colours 
have  a  claim  to  human  curiosity  '^.  Of  all  the  wonders,  I  have 
had  no  account,  except  that  Miss  Thrale  seems  pleased  with 
your  little  voyages. 

Sophy  mentioned  a  story  which  her  sisters  would  not  suffer 
her  to  tell,  because  they  would  tell  it  themselves,  but  it  has 
never  yet  been  told  me. 

Mrs.  Ing  is,  I  think,  a  baronet's  daughter,  of  an  ancient  house 
in  Staffordshire.  Of  her  husband's  father,  mention  is  made  in  the 
life  of  Ambrose  Philips  ^ 

Of  this  world,  in  which  you  represent  me  as  delighting  to  live, 
I  can  say  littlfe.  Since  I  came  home  I  have  only  been  to  church, 
once  to  Burney's,  once  to  Paradise's,  and  once  to  Reynolds's. 
With  Burney  I  saw  Dr.  Rose"*,  his  new  relation,  with  whom  I 
have  been  many  years  acquainted.  If  I  discovered  no  reliques 
of  disease  I  am  glad,  but  Fanny's  trade  is  fiction  ^ 


'  Johnson,  I  conjecture,  wrote  not 
sun  but  sea.  The  ladies  had  just 
arrived  at  the  sea-side. 

""  Johnson's  ignorance  of  the  im- 
portance of  natural  history  is  shown 
by  the  following  passage  in  TJie 
Ra/nbler,  No.  83  : — '  To  mean  under- 
standings it  is  sufficient  honour  to 
be  numbered  amongst  the  lowest 
labourers  of  learning  ;  but  dififerent 
abilities  must  find  different  tasks. 
To  hew  stone  would  have  been  un- 
worthy of  Palladio ;  and  to  have 
rambled  in  search  of  shells  and 
flowers  had  but  ill-suited  with  the 
capacity  of  Newton.'  See  Life,  ii. 
468,  for  his  attack  on  Brydone  for 
his  repeating  the  observations  of  a 
Sicilian  geologist. 

^  '  PhiHps  had  great  sensibility  of 
censure,  if  judgment  may  be  made 
by  a  single  story  which  I  heard  long 
ago  from  Mr.  Ing,  a  gentleman  of 
great  eminence  in  Staffordshire. 
"Philips,"    said   he,    "was    once    at 


table,  when  I  asked  him  how  came 
the  King  of  Epirus  to  drive  oxen, 
and  to  say  /';«  goaded  on  by  love. 
After  which  question  he  never  spoke 
again."  '  Works,  viii.  394.  Theodore 
William  Inge  of  Thorpe  Constantine, 
near  Tamworth,  the  son  of  '  the 
gentleman  of  great  eminence,'  mar- 
ried Henrietta,  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Wrottesley.  Burke's  Landed  Gentry, 
ed.  1882,  i.  849. 

*  Dr.  Rose  was  a  schoolmaster  of 
Chiswick.  One  of  his  daughters  had 
married  Dr.  Burney's  son  Charles, 
the  Greek  scholar,  on  June  24  of  this 
year.  Gentleman'' s  Magazine,  1783, 
p.  540.  Another  daughter,  who  mar- 
ried a  Mr.  Foss,  was  the  mother  of 
Edward  Foss,  the  author  of  the 
Judges  of  England.  Diet,  of  Nat. 
Biog.  XX.  51. 

5  It  was  Miss  Burney,  a  writer  of 
fiction,  who  had  reported  to  Mrs. 
Thrale  that  Johnson  showed  no 
traces  of  disease. 

I  have 


326 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


I  have  since  partaken  of  an  epidemical  disorder,  but  common 
evils  produce  no  dejection  '. 

Paradise's  company,  I  faiacy,  disappointed  him ;  I  remember 
nobody.  With  Reynolds  was  the  archbishop  of  Tuam,  a  man 
coarse  of  voice  and  inelegant  of  language  ^. 

I  am  now  broken  with  disease,  without  the  alleviation  of  familiar 
friendship  or  domestick  society ;  I  have  no  middle  state  between 
clamour  and  silence,  between  general  conversation  and  self-tor- 
menting solitude.  Levet  is  dead,  and  poor  Williams  is  making 
haste  to  die :  I  know  not  if  she  will  ever  more  come  out  of  her 
chamber. 

I  am  now  quite  alone,  but  let  me  turn  my  thoughts  another 

way. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

876. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  I 
Madam,  London,  August  20,  1783. 

This  has  been  a  day  of  great  emotion  ;  the  office  of  the  Com- 
munion of  the  Sick  has  been  performed  in  poor  Mrs.  Williams's 
chamber.  She  was  too  weak  to  rise  from  her  bed,  and  is  there- 
fore to  be  supposed  unlikely  to  live  much  longer.     She  has,  I 


'  Johnson's  position  may  be  illus- 
trated by  the  following  passage  in 
one  of  his  Adventurers  (No.  Ill)  : — 
*  It  is  asserted  by  a  tragic  poet  that 
est  miser  nemo  nisi  comparaius,  "  no 
man  is  miserable  but  as  he  is  com- 
pared with  others  happier  than  him- 
self." '  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on 
September  i : — '  The  summer  has 
been  wonderfully  hot,  and  of  late 
very  unhealthy.  Our  globe  really 
seems  to  be  disordered.'  Letters, 
viii.  404.     See  ante,  ii.  320,  n.  i. 

-  The  following  anecdote  in  the 
Metnoir  of  Goldsmith  prefixed  to  his 
Misc.  Works,  ed.  iSoi,  i.  no,  though 
dated  August  7,  1773,  no  doubt  be- 
longs to  this  year  : — '  I  was  dining 


at  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's,  August  7, 
1773,  where  were  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  and  Mr.  (now  Lord)  Eliot, 
when  the  latter  making  use  of  some 
sarcastical  reflections  on  Goldsmith, 
Johnson  broke  out  warmly  in  his 
defence,  and  in  the  course  of  a 
spirited  eulogium  said,  "  Is  there  a 
man,  Sir,  now  who  can  pen  an  essay 
with  such  ease  and  elegance  as  Gold- 
smith?'" On  August  7,  1773,  John- 
son was  on  his  way  to  Scotland. 
A7ite,  i.  223.  In  1784  Reynolds 
exhibited  the  portrait  of  Dr.  liourke, 
Archbishop  of  Tuam.  Taylor's  Rey- 
7iolds,  ii.  435. 

■*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  301. 

hope, 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.    Thrale. 


327 


hope,  little  violent  pain,  but  is  wearing  out  by  torpid  inappetence ' 
and  wearisome  decay;  but  all  the  powers  of  her  mind  are  in  their 
full  vigour,  and  when  she  has  spirits  enough  for  conversation,  she 
possesses  all  the  intellectual  excellence  that  she  ever  had.  Surely 
this  is  an  instance  of  mercy  much  to  be  desired  by  a  parting 
soul ''. 

At  home  I  see  almost  all  my  companions  dead  or  dying.  At 
Oxford  I  have  just  left  ^  Wheeler,  the  man  with  whom  I  most 
delighted  to  converse.  The  sense  of  my  own  diseases,  and  the 
sight  of  the  world  sinking  round  me,  oppress  me  perhaps  too 
much,  I  hope  that  all  these  admonitions  will  not  be  vain, 
and  that  I  shall  learn  to  die  as  dear  Williams  is  dying,  who 
was  very  cheerful  before  and  after  this  aweful  solemnity,  and 
seems  to  resign  herself  with  calmness  and  hope  upon  eternal 
mercy. 

I  read  your  last  kind  letter  with  great  delight  ;  but  when  I 
came  to  love  and  honour,  what  sprung  in  my  mind  ? — How  loved, 
how  honoured  once,  avails  thee  not  ^. 

I  sat  to  Mrs.  Reynolds  yesterday  for  my  picture,  perhaps  the 
tenth  time^,  and  I  sat  near  three  hours  with  the  patience  of 
mortal  born  to  bear;  at  last  she  declared  it  quite  finished,  and 
seems  to  think  it  fine.     I  told  her  it  was  jfohnsoiis  grimly  ghost. 


'  Johnson  gives  in  his  Dictionary 
not  itiappetcnce  but  ittappetency, 
defining  it  as  '  want  of  stomach  or 
appetite.' 

^  When  near  his  end  he  refused 
opiates  ;  '  for,'  said  he,  '  I  have 
prayed  that  I  may  render  up  my 
soul  to  God  unclouded.'  Life,  iv. 
415. 

^  Left  is  no  doubt  a  misprint  for 
lost.  Johnson's  s  is  easily  mistaken 
for/.  Dr.  Wheeler  died  on  July  22, 
1783.  Hannah  More  who  was  at 
Oxford  at  the  time  writes  : — '  Poor 
Dr.  Wheeler  !  but  don't  you  pity  the 
excellent  Bishop  of  London  ?  He 
sent  off  an  express,  as  soon  as  his 
daughter  died,  to  hasten  Dr.  Wheeler 
up  to  be  with  and  console  him  ;  an 


express  from  the  doctor's  sister  to 
say  he  was  dead  met  the  Bishop's 
messenger  on  the  road.'  H.  More's 
Memoirs,  i.  294.  Miss  Lowth,  the 
Bishop's  last  surviving  child,  died 
suddenly  on  July  21,  and  Dr.  Wheeler 
died  suddenly  the  next  day.  Gentle- 
man^s  Magazine,  1 783,  p.  629. 

''  He  is   quoting  a  line  in  Pope's 
Elegy   to   the   Memory  of  an    Un- 
fortunate Lady. 

^  He  had  sat  to  her  three  years 
earlier.  Ante,  ii.  179.  According  to 
Northcote,  Reynolds  said  of  his 
sister's  oil-paintings,  'they  make 
other  people  laugh  and  me  cry.' 
'  She  generally,'  Northcote  adds, '  did 
them  by  stealth.'  Life  of  Reynolds, 
ii.  160. 

It 


328 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


It  is  to  be  engraved,  and  I  think  in  glided,  &;c/  will  be  a  good 

inscription. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

877. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  August  26,  1783. 

Things  stand  with  me  much  as  they  have  done  for  some 
time.  Mrs.  Williams  fancies  now  and  then  that  she  grows  better, 
but  her  vital  powers  appear  to  be  slowly  burning  out.  Nobody 
thinks  however  that  she  will  very  soon  be  quite  wasted,  and  as 
she  suffers  me  to  be  of  very  little  use  to  her,  I  have  determined 
to  pass  some  time  with  Mr.  Bowles  near  Salisbury^,  and  have 
taken  a  place  for  Thursday. 


'  '  'Twas  at  the  silent  solemn  hour 
When  night  and  morning  meet; 

In  glided  Margaret's  grimly  ghost, 
And  stood  at  William's  feet.' 

Margaret's  Ghost.  Percy  Ballads^ 
iii.  3,  16. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  303. 

^  For  Johnson's  visit  to  Heale, 
near  Salisbury,  see  Life,  iv.  234-9. 
One  of  Johnson's  fellow-travellers  in 
the  stage-coach  described  the  journey 
in  the  Monthly  Magazine,  quoted  in 
Croker's  Boswell,  ed.  1844,  x.  151. 
I  abridge  his  account.  '  Upon  enter- 
ing the  coach,'  he  writes,  '  I  per- 
ceived three  gentlemen,  one  of  whom 
strongly  attracted  my  notice.  He 
was  a  corpulent  man,  with  a  book 
in  his  hand,  placed  very  near  to  his 
eyes.  He  had  a  large  wig  which  did 
not  appear  to  have  been  combed  for 
an  age  ;  his  clothes  were  threadbare. 
I  was  struck  with  his  resemblance 
to  the  print  of  Dr.  Johnson,  given  as 
a  frontispiece  to  the  Lives  of  the 
Poets.  The  gentleman  by  the  side 
of  him  remarked,  "  I  wonder,  vSir, 
that  you  can  read  in  a  coach  which 


travels  so  swiftly  [with  halts  for 
meals  it  took  nearly  fifteen  hours  to 
go  eighty-two  miles] ;  it  would  make 
my  head  ache."  "  Ay,  Sir,"  replied 
he,  "  books  make  some  people's  head 
ache."  This  appeared  to  me  John- 
sonian. I  knew  several  persons  with 
whom  Dr.  Johnson  was  well  ac- 
quainted. ''  Do  you  know  Miss 
Hannah  More,  Sir?"  "Well,  Sir; 
the  best  of  all  the  female  versifiers." 
We  now  reached  Hounslow,  and 
were  served  with  our  breakfast. 
[Hounslow  is  9-J  miles  from  Hyde 
Park  Corner].  "  May  I  take  the 
liberty.  Sir,  to  enquire  whether  you 
be  not  Dr.  Johnson?"  "The  same. 
Sir."  "I  am  happy,"  replied  I,  "  to 
congratulate  the  learned  world  that 
Dr.  Johnson,  whom  the  papers  lately 
announced  to  be  dangerously  indis- 
posed, is  re-established  in  his  health." 
"  The  civiJest  young  man  I  ever  met 
with  in  my  life"  was  the  answer. 
From  that  moment  he  became  very 
gracious  towards  fne.  I  was  then 
preparing  to  go  abroad.  "  What 
book  of  travels.  Sir,  would  you  advise 

Some 


Aetat.  73.] 


To  Mrs.   Tkrale. 


329 


Some  benefit  may  be  perhaps  received  from  change  of  air, 
some  from  change  of  company,  and  some  from  mere  change  of 
place.  It  is  not  easy  to  grow  well  in  a  chamber  where  one  has 
long  been  sick,  and  where  every  thing  seen  and  every  person 
speaking  revives  and  impresses  images  of  pain.  Though  it  be 
that  no  man  can  run  away  from  himself',  he  may  yet  escape  from 
many  causes  of  useless  uneasiness.  That  the  inind  is  its  own 
place"",  is  the  boast  of  a  fallen  angel  that  had  learned  to  lie. 
External  locality  has  great  effects,  at  least  upon  all  embodied 
beings.  I  hope  this  little  journey  will  afford  me  at  least  some 
suspense  of  melancholy. 

You  give  but  an  unpleasing  account  of  your  performance  at 
Portland.  Your  scrambling  days  are  then  over.  I  remember 
when  no  Miss  and  few  Masters  could  have  left  you  behind,  or 
thrown  you  out  in  the  pursuit  of  Jionour"  or  of  curiosity.  But  tempus 
edax  reruvi'',  and  no  way  has  been  yet  found  to  draw  his  teeth. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


me  to  read,  previously  to  my  setting 
off  upon  a  tour  to  France  and  Italy?" 
"  Why,  Sir,  as  to  France,  I  know  no 
book  worth  a  groat ;  and  as  to  Italy, 
Baretti  .paints  the  fair  side,  and 
Sharp  the  foul ;  the  truth  perhaps 
lies  between  the  two."  [See  Life,  ii. 
57 ;  iii.  55.]  I  observed  that  at 
dinner  he  drank  only  water.  I  asked 
him,  whether  he  had  ever  tasted 
bj(}nbo,  a  West  Indian  potation, 
which  is  neither  more  nor  less  than 
very  strong  punch.  "  No,  Sir,"  said 
he.  I  made  some.  He  tasted  ;  and 
declared  that  if  ever  he  drank  any- 
thing else  than  water  it  should  be 
bumbo.  When  the  sad  moment  of 
separation  at  Salisburyarrived,  "Sir," 
said  he,  "  let  me  see  you  in  London, 
upon  your  return  to  your  native 
country.  I  am  sorry  that  we  must 
part.  I  have  always  looked  upon 
it  as  the  worst  condition  of  man's 
destiny  that  persons  are  so  often  torn 


asunder,  just  as  they  become  happy 
in  each  other's  society."  ' 
'  '  Caelum  non  animum  mutant 
qui  trans  mare  currunt  : ' 
'For  they  who  through  the  ven- 
turous ocean  range 
Not  their  own   passions,  but  the 

climate  change.' 
Francis.   Horace,  i  Epistles,  xi. 
27. 
^  '  The  mind  is  its  own  place,  and 
in  itself 
Can   make  a  heaven  of  hell,  a 
hell  of  heaven.' 

Paradise  Lost,  i.  254. 
^  '  Whene'er  did  Juba,  or  did  For- 
tius show 
A  virtue  that  has  cast  me  at  a 

distance, 
And  thrown  me  out  in  the  pur- 
suits of  honour.' 
Addison.    Cato,  Act  i.  scene  i. 
*  '  Tempus  edax  rerum,  tuque  invi- 
diosa  vetustas 

To 


330 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  [a.d.  i783. 


878. 
To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 

Heale  near  Salisbury,  August  29,  1783.  Published  in  the  Life,  iv. 
234- 

879. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 

Dear  Sir, 

I  sat  to  Opey  as  long  as  he  desired,  and  I  think  the  head  is 
finished,  but  it  [is]  not  much  admired.  The  rest  he  is  to  add 
when  he  comes  again  to  town  ^ 

I  did  not  understand  that  you  expected  me  at  Ashbourne,  and 
have  been  for  a  few  days  with  a  Gentleman  in  Wiltshire.  If  you 
write  to  me  at  London,  my  letters  will  be  sent,  if  they  should 
happen  to  come  before  I  return. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

Heale  near  Salisbury,  Sept.  3,  1783. 
To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  at  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


Omnia  destruitis.' 
Ovid.    Metamorphoses,  xv.  234. 
'Thy  teeth,  devouring  time,  thine, 

envious  age. 
On  things  below  still  exercise  your 
rage.' 

Dryden. 
'  First   published    in    Notes    and 
Queries,  6th  S.  v.  481, 

-  Opie  who  was  only  twenty-two 
years  old,  had  been  brought  up  to 
London  in  1781  by  Dr.  Wolcot.  He 
is  described  by  a  brother  Cornish- 
man  as  '  that  unlicked  cub  of  a  car- 
penter.' His  father  was  glad  to  part 
with  him.  He  said,  '  the  boy  was 
good  for  nothing — could  never  make 
a  wheel-barrow — was  always  gazing 
upon  cats,  and  staring  volks  in  the 
face'    R.  Polwhcle's  Traditions, &^c., 


ed.  1826,  i.  'JT.  In  London  at  first 
he  was  all  the  rage.  'The  street 
where  he  lived  was  so  crowded  with 
coaches  of  the  nobility  as  to  become 
a  real  nuisance  to  the  neighbourhood ; 
so  that,  as  he  jestingly  observed  to 
me,'  writes  Northcote, '  he  thought  he 
must  place  cannon  at  his  door  to 
keep  the  multitude  ofif.  He  was  only 
the  embryo  of  a  painter  ;  when  he 
had  proved  himself  to  be  a  real  artist 
the  capricious  public  left  him  with 
disgust  because  he  was  a  novelty  no 
longer.'  Northcote's  Reyttolds,  ii. 
126.  Hawkins  believes  that  the  por- 
trait of  Johnson  was  never  finished. 
HAwVAn^'s  Johnson,  p.  569.  In  1889 
it  was  given  to  the  Athenaeum  Club, 
London,  by  Mr.  T.  Humphry  Ward. 
Athenccum,  August  10,  1889. 

To 


Aetat.  73.]  To  Miss  Susanna   Tkrale.  331 

880. 

To  Miss  Susanna  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Miss,  [Heale],  September  9,  1783. 

I  am  glad  that  you  and  your  sisters  have  been  at  Portland. 
You  now  can  tell  what  is  a  quarry  and  what  is  a  clifif.  Take  all 
opportunities  of  filling  your  mind  with  genuine  scenes  of  nature  : 
description  is  always  fallacious,  at  least  till  you  have  seen 
realities  you  cannot  know  it  to  be  true.  This  observation  might 
be  extended  to  life,  but  life  cannot  be  surveyed  with  the  same 
safety  as  nature,  and  it  is  better  to  know  vice  and  folly  by  report 
than  by  experience.  A  painter,  says  Sydney,  mingled  in  the 
battle  that  he  might  know  how  to  paint  it ;  but  his  knowledge 
was  useless,  for  some  mischievous  sword  took  away  his  head  ^ 
They  whose  speculation  upon  characters  leads  them  too  far  into 
the  world,  may  lose  that  nice  sense  of  good  and  evil  by  which 
characters  are  to  be  tried.  Acquaint  yourself  therefore  both  with 
the  pleasing  and  the  terrible  parts  of  nature,  but  in  life  wish  to 
know  only  the  good. 

Pray  shew  Mamma  this  passage  of  a  letter  from  Dr.  Brocklesby : 
'  Mrs.  Williams,  from  mere  inanition,  has  at  length  paid  the  great 
debt  to  nature  ^,  about  three  o'clock  this  morning,  (Sept.  6).  She 
died  without  a  struggle,  retaining  her  faculties  entire  to  the  very 
last,  and  as  she  expressed  it,  having  set  her  house  in  order'*,  was 
prepared  to  leave  it  at  the  last  summons  of  nature.' 

I  do  not  now  say  any  thing  more  than  that  I  am. 

My  dearest, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

881. 

To  Francis  Barber  ^ 
Dear  Francis,  Heaie,  Sept.  i6, 1783. 

I  rather  wonder  that  you  have  never  written ;  but  that  is 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  308.  Essays:  Of  Death. 

^  It  was  the  painter's  hands  that  '  Your   son,  my  Lord,  has   paid  a 

were  struck  off.     '  So   he  returned,  soldier's  debt.' 

well  skilled  in  wounds,  but  with  never  Macbeth,  Act  v.  sc.  8. 

ahand  to  perform  his  skill,'   Arcadia,  *  1  Kings -xy..  i. 

ed.  1725,  i.  359.  5  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 

^  '  The  fear  of  death,  as  a  tribute  well,  page  739. 
due  unto   nature,  is  weak.'    Bacon's 

now 


'>'>'} 
^3^ 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


now  not  necessary,  for  I  purpose  to  be  with  [you]  on  Thursday 

before  dinner.     As   Thursday  is   my  birth-day ',  I  would  have 

a  little  dinner  got,  and  would  have  you  invite  Mrs.  Desmoulins, 

Mrs.  Davis  ^  that  was  about  Mrs.  Williams,  and  Mr.  Allen  and 

Mrs.  Gardiner. 

I  am, 

Yours,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

882. 
To  Dr.  Burney. 

[London],  September  20,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  239. 

883. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  3. 
Dear  Madam,  London,  Sept.  22, 1783. 

Happy  are  you  that  have  ease  and  leisure  to  want  intelli- 


'  See  ante,  i.  250,  for  Johnson's 
unwillingness  to  have  his  birthday 
recalled  to  h's  thoughts.  In  1781 
he  viewed  the  day  with  calmness, 
if  not  with  cheerfulness.  He  writes: — 
'  1  rose,  breakfasted,  and  gave  thanks 
at  church  for  my  creation,  preserva- 
tion, and  redemption.  As  I  came 
home,  I  thought  I  had  never  begun 
any  period  of  life  so  placidly.  I 
have  always  been  accustomed  to  let 
this  day  pass  unnoticed,  but  it  came 
this  time  into  my  mind  that  some 
little  festivity  was  not  improper.  I 
had  a  dinner  ;  and  invited  Allen  and 
Levet.'  Pr.  and  Med.,  p.  198.  On 
his  return  to  London  he  wrote  to 
Dr.  Burney  : — '  I  came  home  on  the 
1 8th  at  noon,  to  a  very  disconsolate 
house.'  Life,  iv.  239.  The  following 
day  at  the  Old  Bailey,  a  few  minutes' 
walk  from  Johnson's  house,  fifty-eight 
convicts  received  sentence  of  death. 
Gentleman^ s  Magazine,  1783,  p.  802. 

"  Not  the  wife  of  Tom  Davies,  of 
whom  Churchill  wrote: — 


'  That  Davies  hath  a  very  pretty 

wife.' 
Churchill's  Poems,  ed.  1766,  i.  16. 

This  Mrs.  Davis  was  most  likely 
the  woman  whom  Miss  Burney  found 
at  Bolt  Court  the  day  before  Johnson's 
death.  She  writes  : — '  All  the  rest 
went  away  but  a  Mrs.  Davis,  a  good 
sort  of  woman,  whom  this  truly 
charitable  soul  had  sent  for  to  take 
a  dinner  at  his  house.  I  then  went 
and  waited  with  her  by  the  fire. 
Mr.  Langton  then  came.  He  could 
not  look  at  me,  and  I  turned  away 
from  him.  Mrs.  Davis  asked  how 
the  Doctor  was.  "  Going  on  to  death 
very  fast,"  was  his  mournful  answer. 
*'  Has  he  taken,"  said  she,  "any- 
thing ? "  "  Nothing  at  all.  We  carried 
him  some  bread  and  milk — he  re- 
fused it,  and  said  : — '  The  less  the 
better.""     Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 

ii-  337- 

For  Mr.  Allen  see  ante,  ii.  61,  and 
for  Mrs.  Gardiner,  ante,  ii.  174. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  310. 

gence 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


'» 1  ■? 


gence  of  air-ballons'.  Their  existence  is  I  believe  indubitable  ; 
but  I  l^now  not  that  they  can  possibly  be  of  any  use.  The  con- 
struction is  this.  The  chymical  philosophers  have  discovered 
a  body  (which  I  have  forgotten,  but  will  enquire),  which,  dissolved 
by  an  acid,  emits  a  vapour  lighter  than  the  atmospherical  air^. 
This  vapour  is  caught,  among  other  means,  by  tying  a  bladder, 
compressed  upon  the  bottle  in  which  the  dissolution  is  performed  ; 
the  vapour  rising  swells  the  bladder,  and  fills  it.  The  bladder  is 
then  tied  and  removed,  and  another  applied,  till  as  much  of  this 
light  air  is  collected  as  is  wanted.  Then  a  large  spherical  case  is 
made,  and  very  large  it  must  be,  of  the  lightest  matter  that  can 
be  found,  secured  by  some  method,  like  that  of  oiling  silk,  against 
all  passage  of  air.  Into  this  are  emptied  all  the  bladders  of  light 
air,  and  if  there  is  light  air  enough  it  mounts  into  the  clouds, 
upon  the  same  principle  as  a  bottle  filled  with  water  will  sink  in 
water,  but  a  bottle  filled  with  aether  would  float.  It  rises  till  it 
comes  to  air  of  equal  tenuity  with  its  own^,  if  wind  or  water  does 
not  spoil  it  on  the  way.     Such,  Madam,  is  an  air  ballon. 


'  In  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
for  1783,  p.  795,  under  date  of '  Paris, 
September  2,'  it  is  reported  that  '  a 
discovery  has  been  made,  of  which 
the  Government  hath  thought  proper 
to  give  notice,  in  order  to  prevent 
the  terrors  which  it  might  excite 
among  the  people.'  The  balloon  is 
then  described.  No  person  went  up 
till  a  few  weeks  later.  Post,  Letter 
of  December  13,  1783,  Cowper 
wrote  the  day  after  Johnson : — 
'  French  philosophers  amuse  them- 
selves, and,  according  to  their  own 
phrase,  cover  themselves  with  glory 
by  inventing  air-balls,  which  by 
their  own  buoyancy  ascend  above 
the  clouds,  and  are  lost  in  regions 
which  no  human  contrivance  could 
ever  penetrate  before.  An  English 
tailor,  an  inhabitant  of  the  dung- 
hills of  Silver  End,  prays,  and  his 
prayer  ascends  into  the  ears  of  the 
Lord  of  Sabaoth. — He  indeed  covers 


himself  with  glory,  fights  battles, 
and  gains  victories  ;  but  makes  no 
noise.  Europe  is  not  astonished  at 
his  feats,  foreign  Academies  do  not 
seek  him  for  a  member ;  he  will 
never  discover  the  art  of  flying,  or 
send  a  globe  of  taffeta  up  to  heaven. 
But  he  will  go  thither  himself.' 
Cowper's  Works,  iv.  305. 

Johnson  in  his  Dictionary  has 
ballon,  or  balloon,  but  not,  of  course, 
in  the  sense  which  it  was  henceforth 
to  bear.  In  the  Ann,  Reg.  for  1783, 
i.  215,  the  word  is  spelt  ballon. 

-  The  '  body '  was  iron-filings,  the 
acid  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  vapour 
nitrogen. 

^  '  It  has  been  found  that  a  ball 
filled  with  inflammable  air  could 
mount  of  itself  towards  the  sky,  with- 
out stopping  till  both  the  airs  were 
in  equilibrium,  which  must  be  at  a 
very  great  height.'  Gentleman^s 
Magazine,  1 783,  p.  795. 

Meteors 


'»  '^  /I 

oo4 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


Meteors  have  been  this  autumn  very  often  seen%  but  I  have 
never  been  in  their  way. 

Poor  WiUiams  has  I  hope  seen  the  end  of  her  afflictions.     She 

acted  with  prudence  and  she  bore  with  fortitude.     She  has  left 

me. 

Thou  thy  weary  task  hast  done, 

Home  art  gone,  and  ta'en  thy  wages  ^. 

Had  she  had  good  humour  and  prompt  elocution,  her  universal 
curiosity  and  comprehensive  knowledge  would  have  made  her 
the  delight  of  all  that  knew  her.  She  left  her  little  to  your 
charity  school  ^. 


'  On  August  1 8  a  great  meteor 
was  seen  at  such  distant  places  as 
Ostend,  London,  Edinburgh,  and  the 
North  of  Ireland.  Gentleman^ s Maga- 
zine, 1783,  pp.  711,  712,  795,  885. 
The  poet  Crabbe  and  his  wife  saw 
this  '  glorious  phenomenon,  as  it 
burst  forth  as  large  as  the  moon, 
but  infinitely  more  brilliant.  My 
mother,'  writes  their  son,  '  who  hap- 
pened to  be  riding  behind,  said  that 
even  at  that  awful  moment  (for  she 
concluded  that  the  end  of  all  things 
was  at  hand)  she  was  irresistibly 
struck  with  my  father's  attitude. 
He  had  raised  himself  from  his  horse, 
lifted  his  arm,  and  spread  his  hand 
towards  the  object  of  admiration  and 
terror,  and  appeared  transfixed  with 
astonishment.'  Crabbe's  Works,  \. 
124.  Cowper,  in  the  Second  Book 
of  the  Task,  alluding,  as  he  says 
in  a  note,  to  this  meteor  and  also 
'to  the  fog  that  covered  both  Eu- 
rope and  Asia  during  the  whole  of 
this  summer'  {ante,  ii.  320,  n.  i), 
writes : — 
'  Fires  from   beneath,   and  meteors 

from  above 
Portentous,  unexampled,  unexplained. 
Have  kindled  beacons  in  the  skies, 

and  th'  old 
And  crazy  earth  has  had  her  shaking 

fits 


More    frequent,    and    foregone    her 

usual  rest. 
Is  it  a  time  to  wrangle,   when  the 

props 
And  pillars  of  our  planet  seem  to  fail, 
And  Nature  with  a  dim  and  sickly 

eye 
To  wait  the  close  of  all  ? ' 

Cowper's  Poems,  ed.  1786,  ii.  48. 
^  '  Thou  thy  worldly  task,  &c.' 

Cymbeline,  Act  iv.  sc.  2. 
^  The  Charity  School  was  The 
Ladies'  Charity  School  in  the  Parish 
of  St.  Sepulchre,  mentioned  in  the 
Life,  iv.  246.  It  was  founded  in  1702, 
with  the  object  of  training  young 
girls  for  domestic  servants.  Mrs. 
Thrale  was  one  of  the  Managers, 
and  Johnson  was  a  subscriber  from 
1777  till  his  death.  It  is  recorded 
in  the  Minutes  on  March  12,  1783  : — 
'  Dr.  Johnson,  having  turn,  presents 
Mary  Ann  Austin,  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Amey  Austin,  living  at  the  top 
of  Goswell  Street,  at  one  Mr.  Mason's, 
near  the  prison  bar.'  Mrs.  Williams, 
a  few  weeks  before  her  death,  had 
given  the  School  ^200 ;  the  re- 
mainder of  her  substance,  amounting 
to  ^157,  she  left  to  it  in  her  will. 
Probably  the  money  which  she  had 
made  by  the  benefit  that  Garrick  had 
given  her  at  Drury  Lane,  amounting 
to  ;{^2oo,  had  been  invested.    lb.  i. 

The 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mj^s.   Th'ale, 


'>  1  r 

Jo5 


The  complaint  about  which  you  enquire  is  a  sarcocele :  I 
thought  it  a  hydrocele',  and  heeded  it  but  little.  Puncture  has 
detected  the  mistake  :  it  can  be  safely  suffered  no  longer.  Upon 
inspection  three  days  ago  it  was  determined  extrema  ve7itura. 
If  excision  should  be  delayed  there  is  danger  of  a  gangrene. 
You  would  not  have  me  for  fear  of  pain^  perish  in  putrescence. 
I  shall  I  hope,  with  trust  in  eternal  mercy,  lay  hold  of  the  possi- 
bility of  life  which  yet  remains.  My  health  is  not  bad  ;  the  gout 
is  now  trying  at-'  my  feet.  My  appetite  and  digestion  are  good, 
and  my  sleep  better  than  formerly :  I  am  not  dejected,  and  I  am 
not  feeble.  There  is  however  danger  enough  in  such  operations 
at  seventy-four. 

Let  me  have  your  prayers  and  those  of  the  young  dear  people. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Write  soon  and  often. 


393,  n.  I.  In  the  possession  of  the 
Charity  are  her  four  silver  tea-spoons, 
and  sugar-tongs,  and  her  portrait. 
It  shows  a  woman  of  a  strong  but 
not  very  amiable  character.  It  is 
perhaps  the  work  of  Miss  Reynolds. 
The  same  Charity  possesses  six  tea- 
spoons which  by  tradition  belonged 
to  Johnson.  They  were  made,  as 
the  hall-mark  shows,  in  the  year  of 
Mrs.  Williams'  death.  He  had  always 
taken  tea  with  her.  When  her  spoons 
were  given  to  the  Charity  he  had  to 
supply  their  place.  With  them  he 
had  stirred  countless  cups  of  tea. 
Goldsmith  and  Boswell  had  used 
them  with  pride  when  '  they  went  to 
Miss  Williams  '  {Life,  i.  421).  Rey- 
nolds doubtless  had  often  handled 
them,  and  Burke  and  many  a  famous 
mrn  besides. 

The  School  was  first  established 
in  King  Street,  Snow  Hill.     In  1S47 


it  was  moved  to  John  Street,  Bed- 
ford Row  ;  thence  to  Queen's  Square, 
Bloomsbury,  and  lastly  to  Powis 
Gardens,  Notting  Hill,  where  it  is 
carried  on  with  efficiency.  Since  its 
foundation  more  than  1500  girls  have 
been  started  in  life.* 

^  John  Wesley  suffered  from  the 
same  complaint.  'After  two  years 
he  submitted  to  an  operation,  and 
obtained  a  cure.  A  little  before  this 
he  notices  in  his  Journal  the  first 
night  that  he  had  passed  in  wakeful- 
ness ;  "  I  beheve,"  he  adds,  "few  can 
say  this  ;  in  seventy  years  I  never 
lost  one  night's  sleep.'"  Southey's 
Life  of  Wesley,  ed.  1846,  ii.  384. 

-  See  Life,  iv.  399,  418,  for  his 
eagerness  to  endure  pain  if  thereby 
life  could  be  prolonged. 

^  Johnson  in  his  Dictionary  gives 
no  instance  of  this  use  oi  try. 


*  For  most  of  this  information  I  am  indebted  to  Miss  A.  M.  Moore,  of  Oakfield, 
Eltiiam,  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  School. 

To 


^ 


336  To  Mrs.  Montao-u.  [a.d.  i783. 


884. 

To  Mrs.  Montagu  '. 


September  22,  1783. 


Madam, 

That  respect  which  is  always  due  to  beneficence  makes  it  fit 
that  you  should  be  informed,  otherwise  than  by  the  papers,  that, 
on  the  6th  of  this  month,  died  your  pensioner,  Anna  Williams, 
of  whom  it  may  be  truly  said,  that  she  received  your  bounty  with 
gratitude,  and  enjoyed  it  with  propriety^.  You  perhaps  have 
still  her  prayers. 

You  have.  Madam,  the  satisfaction  of  having  alleviated  the 
sufferings  of  a  woman  of  great  merit,  both  intellectual  and  moral. 
Her  curiosity  was  universal,  her  knowledge  was  very  extensive, 
and  she  sustained  forty  years  of  misery  with  steady  fortitude. 
Thirty  years  and  more  she  had  been  my  companion,  and  her 
death  has  left  me  very  desolate. 

That  I  have  not  written  sooner,  you  may  impute  to  absence, 
to  ill-health,  to  any  thing  rather  than  want  of  regard  to  the 
benefactress  of  my  departed  friend. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

"  First  published  in  Crokers  Bos-  '  "  And  I  had  a  very  kind  answer 

well,  page  739.  from  her." 

^  For  Mrs.  Montagu's  kindness  to  "  Well  then,  Sir,"  cried  I,  "  I  hope 

Mrs.  Williams,  see  ante,  i.  371,  «.  i.  peace  now  will  be  again  proclaimed." 
Mr.   Croker,   with    a  grossness  and  "Why,  I  am  now,"  said  he,  "come 

confusion  of  thought  which  were  not  to  that  time  when  I  wish  all  bitterness 

uncommon    in   him,  says  in  a  note  and  animosity  to  be  at  an  end.   I  have 

that    '  Mrs.    Montagu's    pension    to  never  done  her  any  serious  harm — 

Mrs.  Williams  was  in  truth  an   in-  nor   would   I  ;  though   I  could  give 

direct  benefaction  to  Johnson  him-  her  a  bite !    but  she  must   provoke 

self,  and  was  probably  so  meant  by  me  much  first.     In  volatile  talk,  in- 

the  delicate  and  courteous  charity  of  deed,  I  may  have  spoken  of  her  not 

that  excellent  lady.'  much  to  her  mind  ;  for  in  the  tumult 

This    letter    brought    to    a    close  of  conversation  malice  is  apt  to  grow 

Johnson's  quarrel   w  ith    Mrs.    Mon-  sprightly ;   and  there,  I  hope,  I  am 

tagu.     Ante,  ii.  139,  n.  i,  and/^j/,  p.  not  yetdecrepid." '    Mme.  D'Arblay's 

340.     He  told   Miss   Burney  of  his  Diary,  ii.  292. 
letter  and  added  : — 

To 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Miss  Reynolds.  337 

885. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 
Dear  Sir, 

My  case  is  what  you  think  it,  of  the  worst  kind,  a  Sarcocele^. 
There  is  I  suppose  nothing  to  be  done  but  by  the  knife — I  have 
within  these  four  days  been  violently  attacked  by  the  gout,  which 
if  [I]  should  continue  in  its  grip^  would  retard  the  other  business; 
but  I  hope  it  will  abate. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 
Sept.  24, 1783.  Sam:  Johnson. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

886. 

To  Bennet  Langton. 
London,  September  29,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  240, 

887. 
To  Bennet  Langton. 

[London,  September  or  October,  1783].     Two  letters  quoted  in  part 
in  the  Life,  iv.  241. 

888. 

To  James  Boswell. 

[London],  September  30,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  241. 

889. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^. 
Dear  Madam,  October  i,  1783. 

I  am  very  ill  indeed,  and  to  my  former  illness  is  superadded 

the  gout.    I  am  now  without  shoes,  and  I  have  been  lately  almost 

motionless. 

To  my  other  afflictions  is  added   solitude.     Mrs.   Williams, 

'  This  copy  of  the  original  I  owe  ^  Johnson  perhaps  wrote  gripe,  in 

to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  John  S.  H.  accordance  with  the  spelHng  in  his 

Fogg,    of   481     Broadway,    Boston,  Dictionary. 

United  States.  ""  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 

^  See  ante,  ii.  335,  and  Life,  iv.  239.  weli,  page  740. 

VOL.  II.  z                                a  companion 


'•> 


2,S  To  Mrs.  Tkrale.  [a.d.  ivss. 


a  companion  of  thirty  years,  is  gone.     It  is  a  comfort  to  me  to 

have  you  near  me. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

890. 

To  Mr.  Tomkeson  ^ 
Sir,  I  St  October,  1783. 

I  have  known  Mr.  Lowe  very  familiarly  a  great  while. 
I  consider  him  as  a  man  of  very  clear  and  vigorous  understand- 
ing, and  conceive  his  principles  to  be  such  that  whatever  you 
transact  with  him  you  have  nothing  to  expect  from  him  unbe- 
coming a  gentleman, 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

891. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Madam,  London,  Oct,  6,  17S3. 

When  I  shall  give  a  good  and  settled  account  of  my  health 

I   cannot  venture  to  say;    some  account    I  am   ready  to  give, 

because  I  am  pleased  to  find  that  you  desire  it. 

I  yet  sit  without  shoes,  with  my  foot  upon  a  pillow,  but  my 

pain  and  weakness  are  much  abated,  and  I  am  no  longer  crawling 

upon  two  sticks.    To  the  gout  my  mind  is  reconciled  by  another 

letter   from    Mr.    Mudge,    in   which    he   vehemently   urges   the 

excision,  and  tells  me  that  the  gout  will  secure  me  from  every 

thing  paralytick^:   if  this  be  true,   I  am   ready  to  say  to  the 

arthritick  pains,  Deh  !  venite  ogni  di,  diirate  un  anno  "*. 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-  ^  See  «;//£-,  ii.  108,//.  5.    Mr.  Mudge, 

well,  page  823,  Bosvvell  describes  as  '  the  celebrated 

For     Mauritius    Lowe    see    a7ite,  surgeon,     and    now    physician,     of 

ii.  203.     The  name  Tomkeson  is  not  Plymouth.'     Life,  i.  378.     For  John- 

in    the    indexes  of  the  Gentleviati's  son's  letters  to  him  about  his  health 

Magazine.     Perhaps  the  copyist  has  see  ib.  iv.  240. 

been  at  fault.  ■»  Mrs.    Piozzi    in    her  Anecdotes, 

="  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  313.  p.  69,  quotes  'the  famous  distich  of 

My 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.  T/irale. 


339 


My  physician  in  ordinary  is  Dr.  Brocklesby,  who  comes  almost 
every  day ;  my  surgeon  in  Mr.  Pott's  absence  is  Mr.  Cruikshank, 
the  present  reader  in  Dr.  Hunter's  school  ^  Neither  of  them 
however  do  much  more  than  look  and  talk.  The  general  health 
of  my  body  is  as  good  as  you  have  ever  known  it.  almost  as 
good  as  I  can  remember. 

The  carriage  which  you  supposed  made  rough  by  my  weakness 
was  the  common  Salisbury  stage,  high  hung,  and  driven  to 
Salisbury  in  a  day.     I  was  not  fatigued^. 

Mr.  Pott  has  been  out  of  town,  but  I  expect  to  see  him  soon, 
and  will  then  tell  you  something  of  the  main  affair,  of  which 
there  seems  now  to  be  a  better  prospect. 

This  afternoon  1  have  given  to  Mrs.  Cholmondely,  Mrs.  Way, 


an  Italian  improvisatore,  when  the 
Duke  of  Modena  ran  away  from  the 
comet  in  the  year  1742  or  1743  : — 

Se  al  venir  vostro  i  principi   sen' 
vanno 

Deh   venga    ogni    di — durate    un 
anno, 
"which,"  said  Dr.  Johnson,  "would 
do    just    as   well    in    our   language 
thus : — 

If  at  your  coming  princes  disappear, 

Comets !  come  every  day — and  stay 
a  year." ' 

Piozzi's  Anecdotes,  p.  69. 

Mm  784  Reynolds  exhibited  Pott's 
portrait  in  the  Academy.  Taylor's 
Reynolds^  ii.  435. 

Dr.  William  Hunter  in  1770  opened 
at  his  own  expense  an  Anatomical 
School  in  Great  Windmill  Street,  with 
a  Museum  attached.  Cruikshank  was 
successively  his  pupil,  anatomical- 
assistant,  and  partner.  On  Hunter's 
death  he  and  Dr.  Baillie  carried  on 
the  School.  '  He  occasionally  in- 
dulged himself  too  freely  with  the 
bottle  although  never  to  intoxication 
or  insensibility.'  He  died  of  apoplexy 
at  the  age  of  55  on  June  27,  1800. 
His  Christian  names,  William  Cum- 
berland, were  given  by  his  parents — 


Z  2 


he  was  a  Scotchman — *  out  of  com- 
pliment to  the  hero  of  Culloden.' 
If  he  was  born,  as  is  stated,  in  1745, 
that  battle  had  not  yet  been  fought, 
and  the  Duke  was  neither  hero  nor 
butcher.  '  Cruikshank  attended  Dr. 
Johnson  in  his  last  illness,  and  was 
termed  by  him,  in  allusion  to  his 
benevolent  disposition,  "a  sweet- 
blooded  man."  When  he  was  lancing 
the  dying  man's  legs  to  reduce  the 
dropsy,  Johnson  called  out  to  him, 
"  I  want  life  and  you  are  afraid  of 
giving  me  pain — deeper,  deeper."  ' 
Gentleman! s  Magazine,  1800,  ii.  694, 
792 ;  Chalmers'  Biog.  Diet,  xviii. 
325,  and  Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.  xiii.  260. 
See  also  Life,  iv.  219,  for  Johnson's 
letter  to  Reynolds  recommending 
Cruikshank  as  Hunter's  successor  as 
Professor  of  Anatomy  to  the  Royal 
Academy. 

See  Appendix  B  for  Dr.  Brock- 
lesby's  Report  of  a  conversation  with 
Johnson  and  Boswell  on  March  30, 
1783,  the  day  of  Hunter's  death. 

^  He  had  written  to  Dr.  Brocklesby : 
— '  I  was  no  more  wearied  with  the 
journey,  though  it  was  a  high-hung 
rough  coach,  than  I  should  have 
been  forty  years  ago.'     lb.  iv.  234. 

Lady 


540 


To  Mrs.  Th'ale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


Lady  Sheffield's  relation,  Mr.  Kindersley  the  describer  of  Indian 
manners',  and  another  anonymous  lady. 

As  Mrs.  Williams  received  a  pension  from  Mrs.  Montagu,  it 
was  fit  to  notify  her  death.  The  account  has  brought  me 
a  letter  not  only  civil  but  tender  ;  so  I  hope  peace  is  proclaimed  ^ 

The  state  of  the  Stocks  I  take  to  be  this :  When  in  the  late 
exigencies  the  ministry  gave  so  high  a  price  for  money,  all  the 
money  that  could  be  disengaged  from  trade  was  lent  to  the 
publick.  The  stocks  sunk  because  nobody  bought  them  l  They 
have  not  risen  since,  because  the  money  being  already  lent  out, 
nobody  has  money  to  lay  out  upon  them  till  commerce  shall  by 
the  help  of  peace  bring  a  new  supply.  If  they  cannot  rise,  they 
will  sometimes  fall ;  for  their  essence  seems  to  be  fluctuation  ; 
but  the  present  sudden  fall  is  occasioned  by  the  report  of  some, 
new  disturbances  and  demands  which  the  Irish  are  machinating"^. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

892. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  5. 

London,  October  9,  1783. 
Two  nights  ago   Mr.  Burke  sat  with  me  a  long  time;  he 
seems  much  pleased  with  his  journey.    We  had  both  seen  Stone- 
henge  this  summer  for  the  first  time.     I  told  him  that  the  view 


'  For  Mrs.  Cholmondeley  see 
antc^  ii.  186,  and  for  Mrs.  Way,  ante, 
ii.  252.  Mr.  Kinsdersley  is  a  mis- 
take for  Mrs.  Kinsderley,  who  in 
1777  published  Letters  f 7-07/1  the 
Isla7id  of  Te7ierijjfe,  Brazil,  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  and  the  East  hidies. 

'  A7ite,  ii.  336,  71.  2. 

^  On  September  9  the  three  per 
cent,  consols  were  at  64  ;  by  October 
6  they  had  fallen  to  59.  Ge7itle- 
I7ia7i's  Magazi7!C,  1 7S3,  j)p.  SoS,  896. 
'Thursday,  September  25.  This  day 
Nathan  Solomon,  the  great  Jew 
broker,  sent  a  letter  to  the  Stock 
Exchange,   declaring    his    intention 


never  more  to  return  to  that  house. 
The  stocks  fell  considerably.  At 
one  period  the  three  per  cent,  consols 
were  done  at  58.^.  Such  a  peace 
price  was  never  before  known  in  this 
country.'     lb.  p.  803. 

''  Horace  Walpole  wrote  five  days 
later: — 'The  aspect  of  Ireland  is 
very  tempestuous.  I  doubt  they  will 
hurt  us  materially  without  benefitting 
themselves.  If  they  obtain  very  short 
parliaments,  they  will  hurt  themselves 
more  than  us,  by  introducing  a  con- 
fusion that  will  prevent  their  im- 
provements.'    Letters,  viii.  417. 

^  Piozzi  LMters,  ii.  315. 

had 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mts.  T/irale,  341 

had  enabled  me  to  confute  two  opinions  which  have  been 
advanced  about  it.  One,  that  the  materials  are  not  natural 
stones,  but  an  artificial  composition  hardened  by  time.  This 
notion  is  as  old  as  Camden's  time  ;  and  has  this  strong  argument 
to  support  it,  that  stone  of  that  species  is  no  where  to  be  found. 
The  other  opinion,  advanced  by  Dr.  Charlton,  is,  that  it  was 
erected  by  the  Danes  '. 

Mr.  Bowles-  made  me  observe,  that  the  transverse  stones  were 
fixed  on  the  perpendicular  supporters  by  a  knob  formed  on  the 
top  of  the  upright  stone,  which  entered  into  a  hollow  cut  in  the 
crossing  stone.  This  is  a  proof  that  the  enormous  edifice  was 
raised  by  a  people  who  had  not  yet  the  knowledge  of  mortar  ; 
which  cannot  be  supposed  of  the  Danes  who  came  hither  in 
ships,  and  were  not  ignorant  certainly  of  the  arts  of  life.  This 
proves  likewise  the  stones  not  to  be  factitious ;  for  they  that 
could  mould  such  durable  masses  could  do  much  more  than  make 
mortar,  and  could  have  continued  the  transverse  from  the  upright 
part  with  the  same  paste. 

You  have  doubtless  seen  Stonehenge,  and  if  you  have  not, 
I  should  think  it  a  hard  task  to  make  an  adequate  de- 
scription. 

It  is,  in  my  opinion,  to  be  referred  to  the  earliest  habitation  of 
the  Island,  as  a  Druidical  monument  of  at  least  two  thousand 
years ;  probably  the  most  ancient  work  of  man  upon  the  Island. 

'  '  It  is  the  opinion  of  some,'  writes  to  him  some  lines  in  which  he  says  : — 

Camden,  '  that  these  stones  are  not  '  Through  you,  the  Danes  (their  short 

natural,  or  such  as  are  dug  out  of  the  dominion  lost) 

quarries,  but  artificial,  of  fine  sand  A  longer  conquest  than  the  Saxons 

cemented  together  by  a  glewy  sort  of  boast. 

matter.'      Camden's   Brifattm'a,   ed.  Stone-Heng,once  thought  a  Temple, 

1722,1.121.     Walter  Charleton  pub-  you  have  found 

lished  in  1663  Chorea  Gigantum  j  or  A  Throne,  where  Kings,  our  Earthly 

the  most  fatnotes  Antiquity  of  Great  Gods,  were  crowned.' 

Britain,vulgarly  called Stone-He7ig,  Pepys  records  on  July   28,    1666, 

stajtding  ofi  Salisbury  Plain,  restoj'ed  some  'very  pretty  discourse  of  Dr. 

to  the  Danes.     He  maintained  that  Charleton's,      concerning     Nature's 

it  was  '  principally,  if  not  wholly,  de-  fashioning     every    creature's     teeth 

signed  to  be  a  Court  Royal,  or  Place  according  to  the   food  she   intends 

for  the  Election  and  Inauguration  of  them.'     Diary,  ed.  185 1,  iii.  245. 

their  Kings.'    Ed.  1725.    The  Epistle  -  Johnson's  host  at  Heale.     Ante, 

Dedicatory,  p.  3.     Dryden  addressed  ii.  328. 

Salisbury 


342  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  [a.d.  itss. 

Salisbury  cathedral,  and  its  neighbour  Stonehenge,  are  two 
eminent  monuments  of  art  and  rudeness,  and  may  show  the  first 
essay,  and  the  last  perfection,  in  architecture. 

I  have  not  yet  settled  my  thoughts  about  the  generation  of 
light  air',  which  I  indeed  once  saw  produced,  but  I  was  at  the 
height  of  my  great  complaint.  I  have  made  enquiry,  and  shall 
soon  be  able  to  tell  you  how  to  fill  a  ballon. 

I  am.  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

893. 

Cjp  To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor^. 

Your  prohibition  to  write  till  the  operation  is  performed  is 
likely,  if  T  observed  it,  to  interrupt  our  correspondence  for  a  long 
time. 

When  Mr.  Pot^  and  Mr.  Cruikshank  examined  the  tumid 
vessicle,  they  thought  it  a  Sarcocele^  or  flesh  swelling,  I  had 
flattered  myself  that  it  was  only  an  hydrocele,  or  Water  swelling. 
This  could  be  determined  with  certainty  only  by  puncture,  which 
at  my  request  was  made  by  Mr.  Pot,  and  which  confirmed  their 
opinion.  They  advised  some  palliative,  and  I  went  to  a  Friend 
in  Wiltshire  ^,  from  whom  the  bulk  and  pain  of  the  encreasing 
tumour  drove  me  home  for  help. 

Mr.  Pot  seemed  to  think  that  there  was  no  help  but  from  the 
knife,  and  only  postponed  the  operation  to  his  return  from  a 
journey  of  a  week.  In  that  week  the  puncture  burst  open,  and 
by  its  discharge,  abated  the  inflammation,  relaxed  the  tension, 
and  lessened  the  tumor  by  at  least  half.  Mr.  Pot  at  his  return 
found  so  much  amendment,  that  he  has  left  the  disease  for  a  time 
to  nature.     Mr.  Cruikshank  would  cut  another  orifice,  but  Mr. 

'  Ante,  ii.  333.  Johnson  had  'at-  ^  Johnson  lops  off  superfluous  con- 
tended some  experiments  that  were  sonants.  As  he  always  writes  Bos- 
made  by  a  physician  at  Salisbury  on  wel,  Gas/rel,  instead  of  Boswell, 
the  new  kinds  of  air.'     Li/e,\v.2T,y.  Gastrcll,  in  like  manner  he  cuts  down 

"^  From  the  original  in  the  posses-  Pott. 

sion  of  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison,  of  Font-  ■*  Mr.    Bowles   of  Heale.      Ante, 

hill  House.  ii.  338. 

Pot 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mvs.  Tkralc.  343 

Pot  is  not  yet  willing.     In  the  mean  time  I  have  no  pain,  and 
little  inconvenience. 

When  all  was  at  the  worst,  I  consulted  Mudge^  of  Plimouth, 
a  very  skilful  man,  and  Dr.  Heberden,  who  both  vehemently 
pressed  the  excision,  which  perhaps  would  at  last  be  the  safer 
way,  but  Mr.  Cruikshank  is  afraid  of  it.  We  must  at  present  sit 
still. 

I  have  for  some  weeks  past  had  a  sharp  fit  of  the  gout,  to 
which  I  am  reconciled  by  Mr.  Mudge,  who  thinks  it  a  security 
against  the  palsy ;  and  indeed  I  recollect  none  that  ever  had 
both''.  I  have  now  nothing  of  the  gout,  but  feet  a  little  tender, 
and  ankles  somewhat  weak.  I  am  in  my  general  health  better 
than  for  some  years  past. 

I  am.  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  Oct.  20,  1783. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

894. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  I 

Dear  Madam,  London,  October  21,  1783. 

I  have  formerly  heard,  what  you  perhaps  have  heard  too, 

that— 

The  wheel  of  life  is  daily  turning  round, 

And  nothing  in  this  world  of  certainty  is  found. 

When  in  your  letter  of  the  eleventh,  you  told  me  that  my  two 
letters  had  obliged,  consoled,  and  delighted  you,  I  was  much 
elevated,  and  longed  for  a  larger  answer ;  but  when  the  answer 
of  the  nineteenth  came,  I  found  that  the  obliging,  consolatory, 
and  delightful  paragraphs  had  made  so  little  impression,  that 
you  want  again  to  be  told  what  those  papers  were  written  to  tell 
you,  and  of  what  1  can  now  tell  you  nothing  new.  I  am  as  I 
was  ;  with  no  pain  and  little  inconvenience  from  the  great  com- 
plaint, and  feeling  nothing  from  the  gout  but  a  little  tenderness 
and  weakness. 

Physiognomy,  as  it  is  a  Greek  word,  ought  to  sound  the  G : 

'  Anie,  ii.  338,  n.  3.  ^  Afiie,  ii.  338.  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  318. 

but 


344  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  i783. 

but  the  French  and  Itah"ans,  I  think,  spell  it  without  the  G  ;  and 
from  them  perhaps  we  learned  to  pronounce  it.  G,  I  think,  is 
sounded  in  formal,  and  sunk  in  familiar  language. 

Mr.  Pott  was  with  me  this  morning,  and  still  continues  his 
disinclination  to  fire  and  szvord.  The  operation  is  therefore 
still  suspended  ;  not  without  hopes  of  relief  from  some  easier  and 
more  natural  way. 

Mrs.  Porter  the  tragedian,  with  whom spent  part  of  his 

earlier  life,  was  so  much  the  favourite  of  her  time,  that  she 
was  welcomed  on  the  stage  when  she  trod  it  by  the  help  of  a 
stick '.  She  taught  her  pupils  no  violent  graces  ;  for  she  was 
a  woman  of  very  gentle  and  ladylike  manners,  though  without 
much  extent  of  knowledge,  or  activity  of  understanding. 

You  are  now  retired,  and  have  nothing  to  impede  self-examina- 
tion or  self-improvement.  Endeavour  to  reform  that  instability 
of  attention  which  your  last  letter  has  happened  to  betray.  Per- 
haps it  is  natural  for  those  that  have  much  within  to  think  little 
on  things  without ;  but  whoever  lives  heedlessly  lives  but  in 
a  mist,  perpetually  deceived  by  false  appearances  of  the  past, 
without  any  certain  reliance  on  recollection.  Perhaps  this  begins 
to  be  my  state ;  but  I  have  not  done  my  part  very  sluggishly,  if 
it  now  begins. 

The  hour  of  solitude  is  now  come,  and  Williams  is  gone.  But 
I  am  not,  I  hope,  improperly  dejected.  A  little  I  read,  and  a 
little  I  think.  I  a^^  ^^^^ 

Sam:  Johnson. 

895. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^. 
Madam,  London,  October  27,  1783. 

You  may  be  very  reasonably  weary  of  sickness  ;  it  is  neither 
pleasant  to  talk  nor  to  hear  of  it.     I  hope  soon  to  lose  the  dis- 

'  '  She  died  about  the  year  1762.  iii.  500.     He  said  that  he  had  never 

When  Johnson,  some   years   before  seen  her  equalled  '  in  the  vehemence 

her  death,  paid  her  a  visit  she  ap-  of  rage.'     Life,  iv.   243.     According 

peared  to  him  so  wrinkled  that,  he  to  Horace  Walpole  '  she  surpassed 

said,   a   picture    of  old    age    in   the  Garrick     in     passionate     tragedy.' 

abstract   might   be   taken   from  her  Letters,  iv.  336. 
countenance.'    Davies's  Drain.  Misc.  '  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  320. 

gusting 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mrs.  Tlirale.  345 

gusting  topick  ;  for  I  have  now  neither  pain  nor  sickness.  My 
ancles  are  weak,  and  my  feet  tender.  I  have  not  tried  to  walk 
much  above  a  hundred  yards,  and  was  glad  to  come  back  upon 
wheels.  The  Doctor  and  Mr.  Metcalf '  have  taken  me  out.  I 
sleep  uncertainly  and  unseasonably.  This  is  the  sum  of  my 
complaint.  I  have  not  been  so  well  for  two  years  past.  The 
great  malady  is  neither  heard,  seen,  felt,  nor — understood.  But 
I  am  very  solitary. 

Semperque  relinqui 

Sola  sibi,  semper  longam  incomitata  videtur 

Ire  viam  ^. 

But  I  have  begun  to  look  among  my  books,  and  hope  that  I 
am  all,  whatever  that  was,  which  I  have  ever  been. 

Mrs.  Siddons  in  her  visit  to  me  behaved  with  great  modesty 
and  propriety,  and  left  nothing  behind  her  to  be  censured  or 
despised.  Neither  praise  nor  money,  the  two  powerful  corrupters 
of  mankind,  seem  to  have  depraved  her.  I  shall  be  glad  to  see 
her  again.  Her  brother  Kemble  calls  on  me,  and  pleases  me 
very  well.  Mrs.  Siddons  and  I  talked  of  plays  ;  and  she  told  me 
her  intention  of  exhibiting  this  winter  the  characters  of  Constance, 
Catherine,  and  Isabella  in  Shakespeare^. 

'  In  the  autumn  of  the  previous  modest  and  sensible.     She  declines 

year  Mr.  Philip  Metcalfe  had  taken  great  dinners,  and  says  her  business 

Johnson    out    in    his     carriage,     at  and  the  cares  of  her  family  take  up 

Brighton.     Life,  iv.  159.     '  Mr.  Met-  her  whole  time.'     Letters,  viii.  320. 

calfe  seems,'  writes  Miss  Burney,  '  to  Kemble,  who  gave  Boswell  a  minute 

have  taken  an  unaccountable  dislike  of  what  passed  at  the  interview  with 

to  Mrs.  Thrale,  to  whom  he  never  Johnson,  says  that  the  Doctor  '  asked 

speaks.'      Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  her  which  of  Shakspeare's  characters 

ii.  172.  she  was  most  pleased  with.     Upon 

'^  Virgil.     ALneid,  iv.  466.  her  answering  that  she  thought  the 

'  She  seems  alone  character   of    Queen    Catharine,   in 

To  wander  in  her  sleep  through  ways  Henry     the      Eighth,     the     most 

unknown,  natural : — "  I   think  so  too,  Madam, 

Guideless  and  dark.'  (said  he;)  and  whenever  you  perform 

Dryden.  it,  I  will  once  more  hobble  out  to  the 

^  This  passage  is  quoted  by  Bos-  theatre  myself."  '     Life,  iv.  242. 

well  in  the  Life,  iv.  242.     To  Mrs.  Eighteen     years     earlier     in    his 

Siddons'smodesty  testimony  is  borne  edition  oi  Shakespeare  (ed.  1765,  v. 

by  Horace  Walpole,  who  wrote  at  491)   he   had  written: — 'The  meek 

Christmas,    1782:  —  'Mrs.    Siddons  sorrows    and    virtuous    distress     of 

continues  to  be  the  mode,  and  to  be  Catharinehave  furnished  some  scenes 

I  have 


546 


To  Miss  Reynolds. 


[A.D.  1783. 


I  have  had  this  day  a  letter  from  Mr.  Mudge  ;  who,  with  all 
his  earnestness  for  operation,  thinks  it  better  to  wait  the  effects 
of  time,  and,  as  he  says,  to  let  well  alone.  To  this  the  patient 
naturally  inclines,  though  I  am  afraid  of  having  the  knife  yet  to 
endure  when  I  can  bear  it  less.  Cruickshank  was  even  now  in 
doubt  of  the  event  ;  but  Pott,  though  never  eager,  had,  or  dis- 
covered, less  fear. 

If  I  was  a  little  cross,  would  it  not  have  made  patient  Grisel 
cross,  to  find  that  you  had  forgotten  the  letter  that  you  was 
answering?  But  what  did  I  care,  if  I  did  not  love  you?  You 
need  not  fear  that  another  should  get  my  kindness  from  you ; 
that  kindness  which  you  could  not  throw  away  if  you  tried,  you 
surely  cannot  lose  while  you  desire  to  keep  it. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

I  have  a  letter  signed  S.  A.  Thrale ;  I  take  S.  A.  to  be  Miss 
Sophy:  but  who  is  bound  to  recollect  initials?  A  name  should 
be  written,  if  not  fully,  yet  so  that  it  cannot  be  mistaken. 


896. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^ 

My  dearest   Dear,  London,  October  27,  1783. 

I  am  able  enough  to  write,  for  I  have  now  neither  sick- 
ness nor  pain ;  only  the  gout  has  left  my  ancles  somewhat 
weak. 

While  the  weather  favours  you,  and  the  air  does  you  good, 
stay  in  the  country :  when  you  come  home,  I  hope  we  shall  often 


which  may  be  justly  numbered  among 
the  greatest  efforts  of  tragedy.  But 
the  genius  of  Shakespeare  comes  in 
and  goes  out  with  Catharine.  Every 
other  part  may  be  easily  conceived 
and  easily  written.' 

Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  January 
15,  1788  : — '  I  asked  Mrs.  Siddons  in 
which  part  she  would  most  wish  me 
to  see  her.  She  named  I'ortia  in  the 
Merchant  of  Venice ;  but  I  begged  to 


be  excused.  With  all  my  enthusiasm 
for  Shakespeare,  it  is  one  of  his  plays 
that  I  like  the  least.  The  story  of 
the  caskets  is  silly,  and  except  the 
character  of  Shylock,  I  see  nothing 
beyond  the  attainment  of  a  mortal. 
Euripides,  or  Racine,  or  Voltaire 
might  have  written  all  the  rest.' 
Letters,  ix.  124. 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
10 ell,  page  741. 

see 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mts.  Tkrale.  347 


see  one  another,  and  enjoy  that  friendship  to  which  no  time  is 
likely  to  put  an  end  on  the  part  of, 

Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

897. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale '. 
Madam,  London,  Nov.  i,  1783. 

You  will   naturally  wish  to  know  what  was  done  by  the 

robbers  at  the  brewhouse  ^     They  climbed  by  the  help  of  the 

lamp  iron  to  the  covering  of  the  door,  and  there  opening  the 

window,  which  was  never  fastened,  entered  and  went  down  to 

the  parlour,  and  took  the  plate  off  the  sideboard  ;  but  being  in 

haste,  and  probably  without  light,  they  did  not  take  it  all.    They 

then  unlocked  the  street-door,  and  locking  it  again,  carried  away 

the  key.     The  whole  loss,  as  Mr.  Perkins  told  me,  amounts  to 

near  fifty  pounds. 

Mr.  Pott  bade  me  this  day  take  no  more  care  about  the  tumour. 
The  gout  too  is  almost  well  in  spite  of  all  the  luxury  to  which  my 
friends  have  tempted  me  by  a  succession  of  pheasants,  partridges, 
and  other  delicacies.  But  Nature  has  got  the  better.  I  hope  to 
walk  to  church  to-morrow. 

An  air  ballon  has  been  lately  procured  by  our  virtuosi,  but  it 
performed  very  little  to  their  expectation  ^. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  323.  near  Union  Stairs,  Wapping,  about 

^  The    following    entries    in    the  two  this  morning  and  stole  thereout 

Gentletnan's  Magazine  at  this  time  two  bales  of  woollens.'     Jb. 

show  the  dreadful  state  of  the  com-  'November  4.  The  Sessions  for  the 

munity : —  City  of  London  ended,  when  six  con- 

'  October  28.     Eleven  malefactors  victs    received    sentence    of    death, 


were  executed  at  Tyburn.     Notwith-  which   with    twelve    condemned   on 

standing  these  numerous  sacrifices  to  Saturday      for      Middlesex,     make 

the  justice  of  the  country,  no   less  eighteen    in   all   capitally  convicted 

than  160  criminals  were  to  be  tried  this  Sessions.     Villains   increase  so 

at  the  Sessions  at  the    Old  Bailey  fast,  that  a  bare  recital  of  their  names 

that  were  to  begin  the  very  next  day.'  and   atrocious   crimes   would    more 

P.  973.  than  fill  our  Magazine.^     P.  974. 

'  November   i.     To  such  a  pitch  *  On,  November  26  one  made  of 

of  audacious  villainy  are  the  robbers  yellow  tafifety  was   launched   in  the 

about    London   arrived   that  ten    of  Artillery  Ground,  in  the  sight  of  an 

them     armed    with    cutlasses     and  almost  incredible  number  of  people, 

pistols,  in  two  boats,  boarded  a  vessel  No  one  ascended.     lb.  p.  977. 

The 


348  To  Mrs.  Porter.  [a.d.  i783. 

The  air  with  which  these  balls  are  filled,  is  procured  by  dis- 
solving filings  in  the  vitriolick  (or  I  suppose  sulphureous)  acid  ' ; 
but  the  smoke  of  burnt  straw  may  be  used,  though  its  levity  is 
not  so  great. 

If  a  case  could  be  found  at  once  light  and  strong,  a  man  might 
mount  with  his  will,  and  go  whither  the  winds  would  carry  him. 
The  case  of  the  ball  which  came  hither  was  of  goldbeaters'  skin. 
The  cases  which  have  hitherto  been  used  are  apparently  defective, 
for  the  ball  came  to  the  ground  ;  which  they  could  never  do, 
unless  there  were  some  breach  made. 

How  old  is  the  boy  that  likes  Rambler  better  than  apples  and 
pears  ? 

I  shall  be  glad  of  Miss  Sophy's  letter,  and  will  soon  write  to 

S.  A. ;  who,  since  she  is  not  Sophy,  must  be  Susy.     Methinks  it 

is  long  since  I  heard  from  Queeney. 

I  am,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

898. 

To  Mrs.  Porter  '.   . 

Dear  Madam, 

The  death  of  poor  Mr.  Porter  ^,  of  which  your  maid  has  sent 
me  an  account,  must  have  very  much  surprised  you.  The  death 
of  a  friend  is  almost  always  unexpected :  we  do  not  love  to  think 
of  if*,  and  therefore  are  not  prepared  for  its  coming.  He 
was,  I  think,  a  religious  man,  and  therefore  that  \_sic\  his  end 
was  happy. 

Death  has  likewise  visited  my  mournful  habitation.  Last 
month  died  Mrs.  Williams^,  who  had  been  to  me  for  thirty 
years  in  the  place  of  a  sister :  her  knowledge  was  great,  and  her 
conversation  pleasing.     I  now  live  in  cheerless  solitude. 

My  two  last  years  have  passed  under  the  pressure  of  successive 
diseases.  I  have  lately  had  the  gout  with  some  severity.  But 
I  wonderfully  escaped  the  operation  which  I  mentioned,  and  am 
upon  the  whole  restored  to  health  beyond  my  own  expectation. 

•  y^w/t',  ii.  333,  «.  2.  '•  He    probably    wrote    'think    on 

*  First  published  in  Malone's  Bos-      it.' 

'well.  ^  She  had  died  on  September  6 — 

^  Hersecond brother.  Z//^',i. 94,//.  3.      more  tlian  two  months  before. 

As 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Richa7'd  Jackson. 


H9 


As  we  daily  see  our  friends  die  round  us,  we  that  are  left  must 
cling  closer,  and,  if  we  can  do  nothing  more,  at  least  pray  for  one 
another  ;  and  remember,  that  as  others  die  we  must  die  too,  and 
prepare  ourselves  diligently  for  the  last  great  trial. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Yours  affectionately,  &c., 
Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  Nov.  lo,  1783.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 


899. 

T^  o  To  Richard  Jackson  \ 

Dear  Sir,  ^ 

The  Readership  of  the  Temple  "^  being  vacant,  I  take  the 


'  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Frederick  Barker,  of  41, 
Gunterstone  Road,  West  Kensington, 
London. 

The  letter  is  not  addressed,  but  at 
the  foot  is  written  in  another  hand, 
'  Richard  Jackson,  Esq.'  Johnson 
spoke  of  Jackson  as  'the  all-know- 
ing '  ;  on  which  Boswell  has  the 
following  note  : — 'A  gentleman,  who 
from  his  extraordinary  stores  of 
knowledge,  has  been  stiled  oiiims- 
cient.  Johnson,  I  think  very  properly, 
altered  it  to  all-knowing,  as  it  is  a 
verbum  solenne^  appropriated  to  the 
Supreme  Being.'     Life,  iii.  19. 

Wraxall,  who  speaks  of  him  as 
'  Omniscient  Jackson,'  says  that  he 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  Lord  Shel- 
burne  and  a  member  of  his  Ministry. 
Wraxall's  Memoirs,  ed.  181 5,  ii.  61, 
235.  '  There  was  a  silk  gownsman,' 
said  Bentham,  '  who  had  never  any 
business,  but  who  went  by  the  name 
of  Omniscient  Jackson.  I  gave  the 
name  to  Macculloch  (Dr)  who  was 
all  omniscience,  and  prcetcf-ea  niJiil.^ 
Bentham's   Works,  x.  2S5, 

Charles  Lamb  thus  describes  Jack- 
son in  The  Old  Benchers  of  the  Inner 
Temple  : — '  Jackson— the  omniscient 
Jackson  he  was  called— was  of  this 
period.     He   had  the  reputation  of 


possessing  more  multifarious  know- 
lege  than  any  man  of  his  time.  He 
was  the  Friar  Bacon  of  the  less 
literate  portion  of  the  Temple.  I 
remember  a  pleasant  passage  of  the 
cook  applying  to  him,  with  much 
formality  of  apology,  for  instructions 
how  to  write  down  edge  bone  of  beef 
in  his  bill  of  commons.  He  was  sup- 
posed to  know,  if  any  man  in  the 
world  did.  He  decided  the  ortho- 
graphy to  be— as  I  have  given  it — 
fortifying  his  authority  with  such 
anatomical  reasons  as  dismissed  the 
manciple  (for  the  time)  learned  and 
happy.' 

-  '  Since  the  reign  of  Henry  VI IL 
there  has  been  a  divine  belonging  to 
this  church,  named  a  master  or 
custos.  Besides  the  master  there  is 
a  reader,  who  reads  divine  service 
twice  a  day,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  at  four  in  the  afternoon.' 
Dodsley's  Londo?i  and  its  Etiviroiis, 
vi.  113.  The  Reader  at  this  time 
would  have  but  little  help  from  the 
Master,  Thomas  Thurlow,  who  was 
also  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  and  Bishop 
of  Lincoln.  Letters  of  Radcliffe  and 
James,  p.  232,  n.  i. 

Mr.  Hoole  read  the  church- service 
to  Johnson  on  his  death-bed.  Life, 
iv.  409. 

liberty 


c>50  To  Mrs.    Thrale.  [a.d.  1783. 


o 


liberty  of  entreating  your  Countenance  and  vote  for  Mr.  Hoole, 
a  young  clergyman,  whom  I  have  known  for  a  great  part  of  his 
life,  and  whom  I  can  confidently  offer  to  your  notice,  as  a  Man 
of  uncommon  parts,  and  blameless  character. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Bolt-cour  \sic\  Fleet  Street,  Nov.  11,  1783. 

900. 

T~.  ,;r  To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 

Dear  Madam, 

Since  you  have  written  to  me  with  the  attention  and  tender- 
ness of  ancient  time,  your  letters  give  me  a  great  part  of  the 
pleasure  which  a  life  of  solitude  admits.  You  will  never  bestow 
any  share  of  your  good  will  on  one  who  deserves  better.  Those 
that  have  loved  longest  love  best.  A  sudden  blaze  of  kindness  may 
by  a  single  blast  of  coldness  be  extinguished,  but  that  fondness 
which  length  of  time  has  connected  with  with  \sic\  many  circum- 
stances and  occasions,  though  it  may  for  a  while  [be]  suppressed 
by  disgust  or  resentment,  with  or  without  a  cause,  is  hourly  revived 
by  accidental  recollection.  To  those  that  have  lived  long  together, 
every  thing  heard  and  every  thing  seen  recals  some  pleasure 
communicated,  or  some  benefit  conferred,  some  petty  quarrel,  or 
some  slight  endearment.  Esteem  of  great  powers,  or  amiable 
qualities  newly  discovered,  may  embroider  a  day  or  a  week,  but 
a  friendship  of  twenty  years  is  interwoven  with  the  texture  of 
life.  A  friend  may  be  often  found  and  lost,  but  an  old  friend 
nevei;  can  be  found,  and  Nature  has  provided  that  he  cannot 
easily  be  lost. 

I  have  not  forgotten  the  Davenants  ^  though  they  seem  to  have 
forgotten  me.  I  began  very  early  to  tell  them  what  they  have 
commonly  found  to  be  true.  I  am  sorry  to  hear  of  their  building. 
I  have  always  warned  those  whom  I  loved,  against  that  mode  of 
ostentatious  waste  ■'. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  325.  Corrected      47,  Great  Russell  Street,  London, 
by  me  from  the  original  in  the  pos-  "*  Ante,  i.  333,  n.  i. 

session  of  the  late  Mr.  S.J.  Davey,  of  ^  Atiie,  i.  99. 

You 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Miss  S.  A.  Tkrcile.  351 

You  seem  to  mention  Lord  Kilmurrey '  as  a  stranger.  We 
were  at  his  house  in  Cheshire  ;  and  he  one  day  dined  with  Sir 
Lynch.  What  he  tells  of  the  epigram  is  not  true,  but  perhaps 
he  does  not  know  it  to  be  false.  Do  not  you  remember  how  he 
rejoiced  in  having  no  park?  He  could  not  disoblige  his  neigh- 
bours by  sending  them  no  venison. 

The  frequency  of  death,  to  those  who  look  upon  it  in  the  leisure 
of  Arcadia  ^  is  very  dreadful.  We  all  know  what  it  should  teach 
us ;  let  us  all  be  diligent  to  learn.  Lucy  Porter  has  lost  her 
brother.  But  whom  I  have  lost — let  me  not  now  remember  ^ 
Let  not  your  loss  be  added  to  the  mournful  catalogue.  Write 
soon  again  to  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  seivant^ 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  Nov.  13,  1783. 
To  Mrs.  Thrale  at  Bath. 

901. 

To  Miss  S.  A.  Thrale  1 
Dear  Miss, 

Here  is  a  whole  week,  and  nothing  heard  from  your  house. 

Baretti  said  what  a  wicked  house  it  would  be  ^,  and  a  wicked 

house  it  is.     Of  you  however  I  have  no  complaint  to  make,  for 

'  When  Johnson  was  at  Comber-  letter  that  came  early  by  the  Bath 

mere,    he    visited    Lord    Kilmorey's  Diligence  and  another  by  the  post.' 

house — Shavington  Hall,  in  Shrop-  Her  friend  was  Mrs.  Thrale,  whose 

shire.  '  He  shewed  the  place  with  too  unhappiness    was     caused    by    her 

much  exultation,'  he  recorded.     '  He  struggles  to  overcome  her  love  for 

has  no  park,  and  little  water.'     Life,  Piozzi,   to   whom    she   had  engaged 

V.  433.  herself  in   the   spring  of  this   year. 

""  He  had  quoted  Sidney^ s  Arcadia  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  285,  and 

a  few  weeks  earlier.     Ante,  ii.  331.  Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  105. 

^  He  was  thinking  of  that  friend  '*  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  327. 

'  whose   face   for    fifteen  years    had  Miss  S.  A.  Thrale   was   Susanna 

never  been  turned  upon  him  but  with  Thrale,    as   is  shown,   ante,   ii.  348. 

respect  and  benignity — whose  favour  Of  her  alone   of  all   Mrs.  Thrale's 

he  enjoyed  for  almost  a  fourth  part  of  children  I  have  not  been  able  to  ob- 

his  life.'     Life,  iv.  84-5.     The  ninth  tain  a  certificate  of  birth  or  baptism, 
day  after  the  date  of  Johnson's  letter  ^  'A  hint  I  gave  to  Johnson,  but 

Miss  Burney  '  passed  in  nothing  but  he   would   not   take  it,   because   he 

sorrow — exquisite  sorrow  for  my  dear  never    thought    or   would    think    of 

unhappy   friend,   who  sent  me   one  Piozzi.'— Baretti. 

I  owe 


352  To  Miss  S.  A.   Thrale.  [a.d.  i783. 


o 


I  owe  you  a  letter.  Still  I  live  here  by  my  own  self,  and  have 
had  of  late  very  bad  nights  ;  but  then  I  have  had  a  pig  to  dinner, 
which  Mr.  Perkins  gave  me.     Thus  life  is  chequered. 

I  cannot  tell  you  much  news,  because  I  see  nobody  that  you 
know.  Do  you  read  the  Tatlers  ?  They  are  part  of  the  books 
which  every  body  should  read,  because  they  are  the  sources  of 
conversation',  therefore  make  them  part  of  your  library.  Bicker- 
staff,  in  the  Tatler,  gives  as  a  specimen  of  familiar  letters,  an 
account  of  his  cat ".  I  could  tell  you  as  good  things  of  Lily  the 
white  kitling,  who  is  now  at  full  growth,  and  very  well  behaved  ; 
but  I  do  not  see  why  we  should  descend  below  human  beings, 
and  of  one  human  being  I  can  tell  something  that  you  will  like 
to  hear. 

A  friend^  whose  name  I  will  tell  when  your  Mamma  has  tried 
to  guess  it,  sent  to  my  physician  to  enquire  whether  this  long 
train  of  illness  ^  had  brought  me  into  any  difficulties  for  want  of 
money,  with  an  invitation  to  send  to  him  for  what  occasion  re- 
quired. I  shall  write  this  night  to  thank  him  ^  having  no  need 
to  borrow. 

I  have  seen  Mr.  Seward  since  his  return  only  once ;  he  gave 
no  florid  account   of  my  mistress's  health  ^      Tell  her  that  I 

'  '  It  is  said  by  Addison,  in  a  sub-  company,    they   have    learned   each 

sequent  work,  that  the   Tatler  and  other's  manners,  so  that  the  dog  often 

Spectator  had  a  perceptible  influence  gives  himself  the  airs  of  a  cat,  and 

upon  the  conversation  of  that  time,  the  cat,  in  ■    veral  of  her  motions  and 

and  taught  the  frolic  and  the  gay  to  gestures,  affects  the  behaviour  of  the 

unite   merriment  with  decency;  an  little  dog.'     The  Tatler,  No.  112. 
effect  which  they  can  never  wholly  ^  Johnson    had   perhaps    in  mind 

lose,  while  they  continue  to  be  among  '  the  train  of  ills  '  in  Addison's  Cato, 

the  first  books  by  which  both  sexes  Act  iii.  sc.  2. 

are    initiated    in    the    elegancies   of  ""  See  Life,  iv.  245,  for  his  letter  to 

knowledge.'     Johnson's    Works,  vii.  W.   G.  Hamilton,   dated    the    next 

430.     The  '  subsequent  work '  is  The  day. 
Freeholder,  No.  45.  ^  Mrs.     Thrale     wrote     to    Miss 

-  Writing  of  his  little  dog  and  cat  Burney  three  months    later  :— '  Mr. 

he  says  : — 'They  both  of  'em  sit  by  Seward's  disapprobation  [of  her  affec- 

my  fire   every  night,  expecting  my  tion  for  Piozzi]  is  merely  external,  and 

coming  home  with  impatience  ;  and  by  no  means,  like  yours,  the  growth 

at  my  entrance  never  fail  of  running  of  his  heart ;  but  the  coarseness  of 

up  to  me,  and  bidding  me  welcome,  his  expressions  he  has  to  himself,  and 

each  of  'em  in  his  proper  language.  I  cannot  guess  how  I  have  deserved 

As  they  have  been  bred  up  together  them.'       Mme.    D'Arblay's    Diary, 

from  their  infancy  and  seen  no  other  ii.  306. 

hearken 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Miss  Burney. 


1  r  1 

ozo 


hearken  every  day  after  a  letter  from  her ',  and  do  not  be  long 
before  you  write  yourself  to, 

My  dear, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

902. 

To  Miss  Burney  ^ 
Madam, 

You  have  been  at  home  a  long  time,  and  I  have  never  seen 
you  nor  heard  from  you.     Have  we  quarreled  ? 

I  have  sent  a  book  which  I  have  found  lately,  and  im- 
agine to  be  Dr.  Burney's.  Miss  Charlotte^  will  please  to 
examine. 

Pray   write    me   a   direction    of  Mrs.    Chapone\   and    pray 


'  Johnson  gives  as  one  definition 
of  hearken,  'to  listen  by  way  of 
curiosity  '  ;  and  quotes  from  Richard 
III,  Act  i.  sc.  I,  '  He  hearkens 
after  prophecies  and  dreams,'  and 
from  Rogers  [.?  Dr.  John  Rogers]  '  he 
hearkens  after  any  expedient  that 
offers  to  shorten  his  way  to  it.' 

^  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mrs.  Haly,  25  Mount  Sion, 
Tunbridge  Wells,  to  whom  it  was 
given  by  a  daughter  of  Admiral 
Burney — Miss  Burney's  brother.  In 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  283,  and 
in  her  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney,  ii. 
356,  an  incorrect  copy  is  given,  which 
Miss  Burney,  not  having  the  letter 
by  her,  wrote  down  from  memory. 
She  gives  also  her  reply  as  follows  : — 

'  Dear  Sir, 

May  I  not  say  dear  1  for 
quarrelled  I  am  sure  we  have  not. 
The  bad  weather  alone  has  kept  me 
from  waiting  upon  you  ;  but  now  you 
have  condescended  to  give  me  a 
summons,  no  lion  shall  stand  in  the 


way  of  my  making  your  tea  this  after- 
noon, unless  I  receive  a  prohibition 
from  yourself,  and  then  I  must 
submit ;  for  what,  as  you  said  of  a 
certain  great  lady,  signifies  the  bark- 
ing of  a  lap-dog,  if  once  the  lion  puts 
out  his  paw  ? 

The  book  was  very  right.  Mrs. 
Chapone  lives  at  either  No.  7  or  8  in 
Dean  Street,  Soho. 

I  beg  you.  Sir,  to  forgive  a  delay 
for  which  I  can  only  "  tax  the  elements 
with  unkindness  *,"  and  to  receive 
with  your  usual  goodness  and  indul- 
gence, your  ever  most  obliged  and 
most  faithful  humble  servant, 

F.  Burney. 

St.  Martin's  Street,  Nov.  19, 1783.' 

The  '  great  lady '  was  Mrs. 
Montagu.  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney, 
ii.  357  note. 

^  Charlotte  Burney,  afterwards 
Mrs.  Broome.  Mme.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  vi.  193. 

""  Johnson  wrote  to  Mrs.  Chapone 
on  the  28th.     Life,  iv.  247. 


VOL.  II. 


*  King  Lear,  Act  iii.  sc.  2. 

A  a 


let 


354 


To  Miss  Bitrney 


[A.D.  1783. 


let  me  sometimes  have  the  honour  of  telling  you,  how  much 

I  am, 

Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Bolt-court,  Nov.  19,  1783.  SaM  :  JOHNSON  \ 

At  the  foot  of  this  letter  is  written  in  Miss  Burney's  hand  : — '  F.  B. 
flew  to  him  instantly  and  most  gratefully.' 


903. 

To  Miss  Burney^. 

Mr.  Johnson  begs  of  Miss  Burney  that  she  will  favour  him 

with  a  copy  of  Cecilia  to  lend  a  friend. 

Saturday. 


'  Miss  Burney  with  an  overstrained 
delicacy  refused  to  allow  Boswell  to 
print  Johnson's  letters  to  her.  '  One 
I  have  from  him,'  she  writes, '  that  is 
a  masterpiece  of  elegance  and  kind- 
ness united.  'Twas  his  last.'  Boswell, 
she  says,  called  upon  her  when  she 
was  at  Windsor,  and  begged  for  her 
help  : — 

'"My  help?" 

"  Yes,  Madam  ;  you  must  give  me 
some  of  your  choice  little  notes  of  the 
Doctors  ;  we  have  seen  him  long 
enough  upon  stilts  ;  I  want  to  show 
him  in  a  new  light.  Grave  Sam,  and 
great  Sam,  and  solemn  Sam,  and 
learned  Sam, — all  these  he  has  ap- 
peared over  and  over.  Now  I  want 
to  entwine  a  wreath  of  the  graces 
across  his  brow  ;  I  want  to  show  him 
as  gay  Sam,  agreeable  Sam,  pleasant 
Sam ;  so  you  must  help  me  with 
some  of  his  beautiful  billets  to  your- 
self" '  She  was  too  shy  by  nature  to 
yield,  and  moreover  at  this  time  she 
was  oppressed  by  the  propriety  of 
a  Court.  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
V.  167.  See  also  Memoirs  of  Dr. 
Burney,  iii.  114. 

'^  From  the  original  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mrs.  E.  V.  Chappel,  of 
East  Orchard,  Shaftesbury. 


Cecilia  was  published  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1782,  more  than  four  years  after 
Miss  Burney's,  first  novel  Evelitia. 
Boswell  wrote  to  Mrs.  Thrale  from 
Edinburgh  on  December  20, 1782  :— 
'  Everybody  here  is  running  after 
Cecilia,  and  I  am  vain  of  telling  that 
I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  being 
frequently  in  Miss  Burney's  company 
at  Mrs.  Thrale's.'  From  an  Auto- 
graph Letter  in  the  possession  of  the 
late  Mr.  S.J.  Davey.  He  had  met 
her  six  months  earlier  in  Johnson's 
house.  '  I  mentioned  Cecilia.  JOHN- 
SON (with  an  air  of  animated  satis- 
faction). "  Sir,  if  you  talk  of  Cecilia, 
talk  on." '  Life,  iv.  223.  Mrs.  Bar- 
bauld  wrote  to  her  brother  on  January 
2,  1784  :— 'Next  to  the  balloon.  Miss 
B.  is  the  object  of  public  curiosity. 
She  is  a  very  unaffected,  modest, 
sweet,  and  pleasing  young  lady  ; — ■ 
but  you,  now  I  think  of  it,  are  a 
Goth,  and  have  not  read  Cecilia^ 
Barbauld's  Works,  ii.  23.  Horace 
Walpole  wrote  on  September  17, 
1785  : — 'Dr.  Burney  and  his  daughter 
Evelina-Cecilia,  have  passed  a  day 
and  a  half  with  me.  He  is  lively  and 
agreeable,  she  half-and-half  sense 
and  modesty,  which  possess  her  so 
entirely  that  not  a  cranny  is  left  for 

To 


Aetat.  74.J  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  355 

904. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 
Dear  Sir, 

You  desire  me  to  write  often,  and  I  write  the  same  day,  and 

should  be  sorry  to  miss  any  thing  that  might  give  you  ease  or 

pleasure  ^ 

From  the  fatigue  of  your  journey  no  harm,  I  hope,  will  ensue. 
Exercise  short  of  great  fatigue  must  be  your  great  medicine,  but 
painful  weariness  I  would  wish  you  to  avoid  ^.  You  will  do  well, 
if  you  have  recourse  again  to  milk,  which  once  restored  you  be- 
yond expectation,  and  will  now  perhaps  help  you  again ''. 

It  does  not  appear  from  your  Doctor's  prescription  that  he 
sees  to  the  bottom  of  your  distemper.  What  he  gives  you 
strikes  at  no  cause,  and  is  only  intended  for  an  occasional  exciter 
of  the  stomach. 

Exercise  yourself  every  morning,  and  when  you  can  catch  a 
momentary  appetite,  have  always  something  ready.  Toast  and 
hot  wine  will  be  good,  or  a  jelly^  or  potted  meats,  or  anything 
that  can  be  eaten  without  trouble,  and  dissolves  of  itself  by 
warmth  and  moisture.  Let  nothing  fret  you ;  Care  is  all  [?  al- 
ways] a  slow,  and  may  now  be  to  you  a  quick  poison.  No 
worldly  thing  but  your  health  is  now  worth  your  thought,  if  any 
thing  troublesome  occurs,  drive  it  away  without  a  parley.  If  I 
were  with  you,  perhaps  I  might  help  to  keep  you  easy,  but  we 
are  at  a  great  distance. 

I  do  not  think  that  you  have  so  much  to  hope  from  physick  as 
from  regimen.  Keep  a  constant  attention  to  petty  conveniencies. 
Suffer  neither  heat  nor  cold  in  a  disagreeable  degree.  Beware  of 
costiveness.  Take  the  air  every  morning,  and  very  often  let  me 
know  how  you  do,  and  what  you  eat  or  drink  and  how  you  rest. 

afiFectation   or  pretension.'     Letters,  feelings.'    Lockhart's  Scott,  ed.  1839, 

ix.  13.     More  than  forty  years  later,  ix.  50. 

on  November  18,   1826,  Sir  Walter  '  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
Scott    describes   her  as  '  an  elderly  sion  of  Messrs.  J.  Pearson  &  Co.,  of 
lady,    with   no  remains  of  personal  5  Pall  Mall  East, 
beauty,  but  with  a  simple  and  gentle  -  Dr.  Taylor  was  ill.    Post,  p.  357. 
manner,   a    pleasing    expression    of  ^  Ante,  ii.  99,  102. 
countenance,  and    apparently  quick  *  Ante,  ii.  234,  236. 

A  a  2  My 


356  To  Mrs.  T/irale.  [a.d.  i783. 


My  nights  are  restless,  but  my  sarcocele '  gives  me  no  trouble, 
and  the  gout  is  gone,  and  my  respiration  when  I  am  up  not 
uneasy. 

Let  us  pray  for  one  another. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  Nov.  19,  1783. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

905. 

To  THE  Right  Hon.  William  Gerard  Hamilton. 
[London],  November  19,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  245. 

906. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 

Dear   Madam,  London,  Nov.  20,  1783. 

I  began  to  grieve  and  wonder  that  I  had  no  letter,  but  not 
being  much  accustomed  to  fetch  in  evil  by  circumspection  or 
anticipation,  did  not  suspect  that  the  omission  had  so  dreadful 
a  cause  as  the  sickness  of  one  of  my  dears.  As  her  physician 
thought  so  well  of  her  when  you  wrote,  I  hope  she  is  now  out  of 
danger.  You  do  not  tell  me  her  disease  ;  and  perhaps  have  not 
been  able  yourself  fully  to  understand  it.  I  hope  it  is  not  of  the 
cephalick  race^. 

That  frigid  stillness  with  which  my  pretty  Sophy  melts  away, 
exhibits  a  temper  very  incommodious  in  sickness,  and  by  no 
means  amiable  in  the  tenour  of  life'*.  Incommunicative  taciturnity 
neither  imparts  nor  invites  friendship  ^,  but  reposes  on  a  stubbed!  n 
sufficiency  self-centered,  and    neglects  the  interchange  of  that 

'  Ante,  ii.  335.  *  Johnson  in   The  Idler,  No.  103, 

""  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  329.  has  '  an  even  and  unvaried  tenour 

^  Johnson    defines    cephalick    as  of  life.'      When    he   wrote    this   he 

'  that  which  is  medicinal  to  the  head.'  perhaps    had     in     his     mind    '  the 

He  does  not  give  a  definition  which  noiseless    tenour   of  their   way '    of 

includes  '  that  which  pertains  to  the  Gray's  Elegy. 

head.'    What    he    dreaded    was    an  ^  '  This    is    the    present   case    of 

illness   of  the    same    kind   as    that  Hetty  [Miss  Thrale—Queeney]  rather 

which  had  carried  off  many  of  Mrs.  than  Sophy.'    Baretti. 
Thrale's  children. 

social 


Aetat.  74.]  To  the  Reverend  Dv.  Taylor.  357 

social  officiousness '  by  which  we  are  habitually  endeared  to  one 
another.  They  that  mean  to  make  no  use  of  friends,  will  be  at 
little  trouble  to  gain  them  ;  and  to  be  without  friendship,  is  to  be 
without  one  of  the  first  comforts  of  our  present  state.  To  have 
no  assistance  from  other  minds,  in  resolving  doubts,  in  appeasing 
scruples,  in  balancing  deliberations,  is  a  very  wretched  destitution. 
If  therefore  my  loves  have  this  silence  by  temper,  do  not  let 
them  have  it  by  principle  ;  show  them  that  it  is  a  perverse  and 
inordinate  disposition,  which  must  be  counteracted  and  reformed. 
Have  I  said  enough  ? 

Poor  Dr.  Taylor  represents  himself  as  ill ;  and  I  am  afraid  is 
worse  than  in  the  summer.  My  nights  are  very  bad  ;  but  of  the 
sarcocele  I  have  now  little  but  the  memory. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

807. 

.^  ^  To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 

Dear  Sir, 

You  desired  me  to  write  often,  and   I  now  write  though 

I  have  nothing  new  to  tell  you,  for  I  know  that  in  the  tediousness 

of  ill  health  a  letter  always  gives  some  diversion  to  the  mind, 

and  I  am  afraid  that  you  live  too  much  in  solitude. 

[I]  feel  the  weight  of  solitude  very  pressing ;  after  a  night  of 

broken  and  uncomfortable  slumber  I  rise  to  a  solitary  breakfast, 

and  sit  down  in  the  evening  with  no  companion  ^.     Sometimes 

however  I  try  to  read  more  and  more. 

'  Johnson  defines  officiousness  as  sense  of  '  kind  ;  doing  good  offices,' 

'  forwardness  of  civility,  or  respect,  and  not  in  the  sense  of  '  importunely 

or  endeavour.      Commonly  in  an  ill  forward.' 

sense.^     Mrs.    Piozzi,   criticising   the  ^  First    published    in   Notes    and 

line  in  which  he  praises  Levett  as  Queries,  6th  S.  v.  482. 

'  Officious,  innocent,  sincere,'  ^  Levett  had  '  always  waited  upon 

says: — 'Johnson,     always     thinking  him    every    morning,    through    the 

neglect   the   worst    misfortune    that  whole  course  of  his  late  and  tedious 

could   befall   a   man,   looked    on    a  breakfast,'   and  with  Mrs.  Williams 

character   of   this    description    with  he  had  always  taken  tea,  however 

less   aversion   than    I    do.'     British  late  he  might  be  in  coming  home. 

Synonomy,  ii.  79.  She  did  not  under-  Life,  i.  243,  421. 
stand   that   he  used  officious  in  the 

You 


58 


To  Sir  John  Hawkins. 


[A.D.  1783. 


You  must  likewise  write  to  me  and  tell  me  how  you  live,  and 
with  what  diet.  Your  milk  kept  you  so  well  that  I  know  not 
why  you  forsook  it,  and  think  it  very  reasonable  to  try  it  again  \ 
Do  not  omit  air  and  gentle  exercise. 

The  ministry  talk  of  laying  violent  hands  on  the  East  India 
company,  even  to  the  abolition  or  at  least  suspension  of  their 
charter-.  I  believe  corruption  and  oppression  are  in  India  at  an 
enormous  height,  but  it  has  never  appeared  that  they  were 
promoted  by  the  Directors,  who,  I  believe,  see  themselves  de- 
frauded, while  the  country  is  plundred  ;  but  the  distance  puts 
their  officers  out  of  reach  ^,  and  I  doubt  whether  the  government, 
in  its  present  state  of  diminished  credit,  will  do  more  than  give 
another  evidence  of  its  own  imbecillity  \sic\ ''. 

You  and  I  however  have  more  urgent  cares,  than  for  the  East 

Indian  company.     We  are  old  and  unhealthy.     Let  us  do  what 

we  can  to  comfort  one  another. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  &c., 

London,  Nov.  22,  1783-  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

808. 

Dear  Sir  To  Sir  John  Hawkins  ^. 

As  Mr.  Ryland  was  talking  with  mc  of  old  friends  and  past 


'  Aiite,  ii.  355. 

-  On  November  20,  Fox  had 
brought  in  his  East  India  Bill,  'a 
singularly  bold  and  original  plan  for 
the  government  of  the  British  terri- 
tories in  India.  What  was  proposed 
was  that  the  whole  authority,  which 
till  that  time  had  been  exercised  over 
those  territories  by  the  East  India 
Company,  should  be  transferred  to 
seven  Commissioners  who  were  to 
be  named  by  Parliament,  and  were 
not  to  be  removable  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  Crown.'  Macaulay's  Miscel- 
laneous Wri/ings,  ed.  1871,  p.  406. 

^  '  All  distant  power,'  said  Johnson, 
'  is  bad.  I  am  clear  that  the  best 
plan  for  the  government  of  India  is 
a  despotick  governour ;  for  if  he  be 
a  good  man,  it  is  evidently  the  best 


government ;  and  supposing  him  to  be 
a  bad  man,  it  is  better  to  have  one 
plunderer  than  many.'   Life,  iv.  213. 

"*  Johnson  showed  more  foresight 
than  Horace  Walpole,  who  wrote 
early  in  December  : — '  Mr.  Eox's 
competitor,  Mr.  Pitt,  appears  by  no 
means  an  adequate  rival,  .  .  .  The 
opponents  of  the  Bill  have  no  hopes 
but  in  the  House  of  Lords,  where 
however  I  do  not  believe  they  expect 
to  succeed.  Mr.  Pitt's  reputation  is 
much  sunk.'  Letters,  viii.  437-9. 
On  December  19  Pitt  became  First 
Lord  of  the  Treasuiy,  and  formed 
that  Ministry  which  lasted  seventeen 
years. 

^  First  published  in  Hawkins's 
Life  of  JoJinson.  page  562. 

Hawkins  records  that  Johnson  said 

times, 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.  T Inhale. 


359 


times,  we  warmed  ourselves  into  a  wish,  that  all  who  remained  of 
the  Club  should  meet  and  dine  at  the  house  which  once  was 
Horseman's,  in  Ivy-lane.  I  have  undertaken  to  solicit  you,  and 
therefore  desire  you  to  tell  on  what  day  next  week  you  can  con- 
veniently meet  your  old  friends. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant. 
Bolt-court,  Nov.  22,  1783.  SAM:  JoHNSON. 


909. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale '. 

Dear   Madam,  London,  Nov.  24,  1783. 

The  post  came  in  late  to-day,  and  I  had  lost  hopes.  If  the 
distress  of  my  dear  little  girl  keep  me  anxious,  I  have  much 
consolation  from  the  maternal  and  domestick  character  of  your 
dear  letters. 

I  do  not  much  fear  her  pretty  life,  because  scarcely  any  body 
dies  of  her  disorder ;  but  it  is  an  unpromising  entry  upon  a  new 
period  of  life  :  and  there  is,  I  suspect,  danger  lest  she  should  have 
to  struggle  for  some  years  with  a  tender,  irritable,  and  as  it  is 
not  very  properly  called,  a  nervous  constitution  ^.  But  we  will 
hope  better  ;  and  please  ourselves  with  thinking  that  nature,  or 


to  him  this  month: — 'What  a  man 
am  I,  who  have  got  the  better  of 
three  diseases,  the  palsy,  the  gout, 
and  the  asthma,  and  can  now  enjoy 
the  conversation  of  my  friends  with- 
out the  interruptions  of  weakness 
or  pain  !  '  It  was,  in  what  Hawkins 
calls  '  this  seeming  spring-tide  of  his 
health  and  spirits'  that  Johnson 
wrote  this  Letter.  The  old  Club 
*  had  been  formed  in  the  winter  of 
1749,  and  had  met  weekly  at  the 
King's  Head,  a  famous  beef-steak 
house  in  Ivy-lane,  near  St.  Paul's, 
every  Tuesday  evening.'  lb.  p.  219, 
and  Life,  i.  190  ;  iv.  253,  435.  '  Ivy- 
lane  runs  from  Paternoster  Row  into 
Newgate  Street.  This  lane  took  its 
name  from  the  Ivy  which  grew  on 
the  walls  of  the   prebends'   houses. 


formerly  situated  here.  Stow.'  Dods- 
ley's  London  and  its  Environs,  iii. 
265.  Goldsmith  in  his  Essay  on 
Clubs  says  : — '  If  a  man  be  phleg- 
matic he  may  sit  in  silence  at  the 
hum-drum  club  in  Ivy-lane.'  Gold- 
smith's Works,  ed.  1801,  iv.  302. 
According  to  a  writer  in  the  Builder 
(December,  1884), '  The  King's  Head 
was  burnt  down  twenty-five  years 
ago,  but  the  cellarage  remains  be- 
neath No.  4,  Alldis's  dining-rooms, 
on  the  eastern  side.' 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  331. 

^  Johnson  in  his  Dictionary  gives 
as  the  second  meaning  of  nervous, 
'  relating  to  the  nerves ;  having  the 
seat  in  the  nerves.  [In  medical  cant] 
Having  weak  or  diseased  nerves.' 

physick, 


360  To  Mrs.  Tkrale.  [a.d.  1783. 

physick,  will  gain  a  complete  victory  ;  that  dear  Sophy  will 
quite  recover,  and  that  she  and  her  sister  will  love  one  another 
one  degree  more  for  having  felt  and  excited  pity^  for  having 
wanted  and  given  help. 

I  received  yesterday  from  your  physicians  a  note,  from  which 
I  received  no  information  ;  they  put  their  heads  together  to  tell 
me  nothing.  Be  pleased  to  write  punctually  yourself,  and  leave 
them  to  their  trade.  Let  me  have  something  every  post  till  my 
dear  Sophy  is  better. 

My  nights  are  often  very  troublesome,  so  that  I  try  to  sleep  in 

the  day.     The  old  convulsions  of  the  chest  have  a  mind  to  fasten 

their  fangs  again  upon  me.     I  am  afraid  that  winter  will  pinch 

me.    But  I  will  struggle  with  it,  and  hope  to  hold  out  yet  against 

heat  and  cold. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

910. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

Dear   Madam,  London,  Nov.  27,  1783. 

I  had  to-day  another  trifling  letter  from  the  physicians.  Do 
not  let  them  fill  your  mind  with  terrours  which  perhaps  they 
have  not  in  their  own  ;  neither  suffer  yourself  to  sit  forming 
comparisons  between  Sophy  and  her  dear  father  ;  between  whom 
there  can  be  no  other  resemblance,  than  that  of  sickness  to  sick- 
ness. Hystericks  and  apoplexies  have  no  relation.  Hystericks 
commonly  cease  at  the  times  when  apoplexies  attack  ;  and  very 
rarely  can  be  said  to  shorten  life.  They  are  the  bugbears  of 
disease,  of  great  tcrrour  but  little  danger. 

Mrs.  Byron ""  has  been  with  mc  to-day  to  enquire  after  Sophy  ; 
I  sent  her  away  free  from  the  anxiety  which  she  brought  with  her. 

Do  however  what  the  Doctors  order  ;  they  know  well  enough 

what  is  to  be  done.     My  pretty  Sophy  will  be  well,  and  Bath 

will  ring  with  the  great  cure.  ^  „ 

^  ^  I  am,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

"  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  332.  2  /inte,  ii.  79. 

To 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


a 


6i 


911. 

To  Mrs.  Chapone. 
[London],  November  28,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  247. 

912. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 
Dear   Madam,  London,  Nov.  29,  1783. 

The  life  of  my  dear,  sweet,  pretty,  lovely,  delicious  Miss 
Sophy  is  safe ;  let  us  return  thanks  to  the  great  Giver  of  exist- 
ence, and  pray  that  her  continuance  amongst  us  may  be  a  blessing 
to  herself  and  to  those  that  love  her.  Midtosetfelices^  mydear  girl^. 

Now  she  is  recovered,  she  must  write  me  a  little  history  of  her 
sufferings,  and  impart  her  schemes  of  study  and  improvement  ^. 
Life,  to  be  worthy  of  a  rational  being,  must  be  always  in 
progression  ;  we  must  always  purpose  to  do  more  or  better  than 
in  time  past.  The  mind  is  enlarged  and  elevated  by  mere 
purposes,  though  they  end  as  they  begin  by  airy  contemplation. 
We  compare  and  judge,  though  we  do  not  practise*. 

She  will  go  back  to  her  arithmetick  again  ;  a  science  which 
will  always  delight  her  more,  as  by  advancing  further  she  discerns 
more  of  its  use,  and  a  science  devoted  to  Sophy's  ease  of  mind  ; 
for  you  told  in  the  last  winter  that  she  loved  metaphysicks 
more  than  romances.  Her  choice  is  certainly  as  laudable  as  it 
is  uncommon ;  but  I  would  have  her  like  what  is  good  in  both. 

God  bless  you  and  your  children  ;  so  says. 

Dear  Madam, 

Your  old  Friend, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  334. 

-  '  And  so  say  L'  Baretti.  Their 
prayer  that  many  happy  years  might 
fall  to  her  lot  was  only  granted  in 
part.  '  She  died  on  November  8, 
1824,  at  Sandgate,  the  wife  of  Henry 
Merrick  Hoare.  She  never  had  any 
children.'  MS.  note  in  the  copy  of 
the  Piozzi  Letters  which  had  be- 
longed to  Baretti. 

^  For  Johnson's  '  schemes  of  life  ' 
see  ante,  ii.  300,  n.  3. 

*  Boswell  quotes  this  passage.  Life, 


iv.  396,  71.  4.  With  '  airy  contempla- 
tion '  compare  line  10  in  The  Vanity 
of  Human  WisJies,  where  the  poet 
describes  how  man — 
'  Shuns  fancied  ills,  or  chases  airy 
good.' 
In  Rasselas,  ch.  44,  he  says  : — '  No 
man  will  be  found  in  whose  mind 
airy  notions  do  not  sometimes  tyran- 
nise, and  force  him  to  hope  or  fear 
beyond  the  limits  of  sober  proba- 
bility.' 

To 


2>(i2  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.  [a.d.  i783. 

913. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  '. 
Dear  Sir. 

Your  Doctor's  fixed  air  recommends  him  but  little  to  my 

esteem-;    I    like    Doxy's^    prescription    better,   and   your   own 

regimen  better  than  either.     By  persevering  in  the  use  of  milk, 

I  doubt  not  but   you  will  gain   health   enough    to   keep    your 

residence '',  and  that  we  can  consult  at  leisure  what  may  be  best 

for  both.     This  is  but  at  two  months  distance.     If  your  health 

or  safety  could  be  much  promoted  by  any  attention  of  mine, 

I  would  come  dowui,  but  my  own  sickliness  makes  me  unwilling 

to  be  far  from  my  Physicians,  and  unless  I  were  sure  of  some 

considerable  good,  such  a  journey  is  not  to  be  undertaken.     If 

I  come  to  you,  I  must  go  to  Lichfield. 

While  milk  agrees  with  you,  do  not  be  persuaded  to  forsake 
it.  Go  to  bed,  and  rise,  as  Nature  dictates,  not  by  rule  but 
according  to  convenience.    Make  your  mind  easy,  and  trust  God. 

My  time  passes  uncomfortably,  my  nights  have  been  of  late 
spasmodick  without  opium  and  sleepless  with  it.  I  hope  that  when 
we  meet  we  shall  both  be  better  ^ 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  Nov.  29,  1783. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

'  From  the  original.     I  have  care-  explained  in  the  same  review,  where 

lessly  failed  to  record  the  name  of  mention  is  made  of  '  the  effects  of 

the  correspondent  to  whose  kindness  fixed  air  applied  by  way  of  clyster  in 

I  owe  a  copy  of  this  Letter.  the  case  of  a  putrid  fever.'     See  also 

^  '  Carbonic  acid  was  long  known  ib.  p.  553. 
before    its   nature    was    understood.  ^  See  rm/^,  ii.  129, ;/.  i,  for  mention 

Black  gave  it  the  name  of  fixed  air.'  of  Garrick's  niece,  Miss  Doxy. 
Penny  Cyclo.,  ed.  1836,  vi.  282.     In  ''  He  had  to  keep  his  residence  as 

a  review  in  the  Gentleman's  Maga-  Prebendary   of  Westminster.     Life, 

2ine  for  1773,  p.  447,  of  Dr.  Priest-  ii.  473. 

ley's  Observations  on  different  Kinds  ^  In  1783,  probably  about  this  time, 

of  Air  it  is  stated  that  'the  three  for  it  was  when  Johnson  was  very 

terms  in  common  use  for  distinguish-  poorly,  he   dined  with  the  Duke  of 

ing   the    different    kinds    of  air   are  Chaulnes  at  the  Adelphi,  as  the  fol- 

Fixed  air,  Mephitic  and  Inflammable.'  lowing  letter  shows  : — 
The  use  which  Taylor's  doctor  would  '  The  Duke  of  Chaulnes'  best  com- 

have  made  of  '  fixed  air  '  is  perhaps  pliments     to     Doctor    Burney  :     he 

To 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Sir  John  Hawkins. 


36 


914. 

To  Mrs.  PoRTf:R. 
London,  November  29,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  256. 

915. 

To  Sir  John  Hawkins  '. 
Dear  Sir, 

In  perambulating  Ivy-lane,  Mr.  Ryland  found  neither  our 
landlord  Horseman  nor  his  successor.  The  old  house  is  shut  up, 
and  he  liked  not  the  appearance  of  any  near  it;  he  therefore 
bespoke  our  dinner  at  the  Queen's  Arms,  in  St.  Paul's  Church- 
yard^, where,  at  half  an  hour  after  three,  your  company  will  be 
desired  to-day  by  those  who  remain  of  our  former  society. 

Your  humble  servant, 
Dec.  3  [1783.]  Sam:  Johnson. 


desires  the  favour  of  his  company 
to  dinner  with  Doctor  Johnson  on 
Sunday  next,  between  about  three 
and  four  o'clock,  which  is  the  hour 
convenient  to  the  excellent  old  Doctor, 
the  best  piece  of  man,  indeed,  that 
the  Duke  ever  saw.'  Memoirs  of 
Dr.  Burney,  ii.  338. 

'  First  published  in  Hawkins's 
Life  of  fohnson,  page  563. 

'  With  this  invitation,'  writes  Haw- 
kins, '  I  cheerfully  complied,  and 
met  all  who  could  be  mustered  of 
our  society,  namely  Johnson,  Mr.  Ry- 
land, and  Mr.  Payne  of  the  Bank. 
In  the  evening  we  regaled  with  coffee. 
At  ten  we  broke  up,  much  to  the 
regret  of  Johnson,  who  proposed 
staying  ;  but  finding  us  inclined  to 
separate,  he  left  us  with  a  sigh  that 
seemed  to  come  from  his  heart, 
lamenting  that  he  was  retiring  to 
solitude  and  cheerless  meditation.' 

John  Payne  had  been  a  bookseller, 
but  was  now  Chief  Accountant  of  the 
Bank.  Life,  i.  317,  ^-z.  i.  '  He  was,' 
says  Isaac  Reed,  '  of  a  very  diminu- 
tive appearance.  Once  Johnson  in 
a  gaiety  of  humour  proposed  to  run 


a  race  with  him.  Before  they  had 
run  half  the  distance  Johnson  caught 
his  little  adversary  up  in  his  arms, 
and  without  any  ceremony  placed 
him  upon  the  arm  of  a  tree  which 
was  near,  and  then  continued  running 
as  if  he  had  met  with  a  hard  match.' 
Croker's  Bosiuell,  ed.  1835,  x-  145- 

'It  was  at  the  Queen's  Arms 
that  Johnson's  City  Club  met,  which 
was  composed  of  men  who  were 
not  patriots,  collected  for  him  by 
Mr.  Hoole.  Life,  iv.  87.  Jeremy 
Bentham  was  a  member.  '  Tasso 
Hoole,'  he  writes,  'was  one  of  Dr. 
Johnson's  lickspittles.  He  had,  I 
think,  a  place  at  the  East  India 
House  ;  and  got  money  by  plays  and 
translations,  which  he  got  people  to 
subscribe  for.  He  even  asked  me 
for  subscriptions,  though  he  lived  in 
style — asked  me  who  lived  in  beg- 
gary !  He  got  me  to  subscribe,  and 
Chamberlain  Clarke  forced  him  to 
give  back  the  money.'  Bentham's 
Works,y..  184.  For  Hoole's  generous 
conduct  about  one  of  his  plays  which 
had  not  succeeded,  see  Life,  ii.  289, 
n.  3. 

To 


364  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  i783. 

916. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 

[London],  December  4,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  253. 

917. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  Dec.  13,  1783. 

I  think  it  long  since  I  wrote,  and  sometimes  venture  to  hope 

that  you  think  it  long  too.    The  intermission  has  been  filled  with 

spasms,  opiates,  sleepless  nights,  and  heavy  days.    These  vellica- 

tions^  of  my  breast  shorten  my  breath  ;  whether  they  will  much 

shorten  my  life  I  know  not,  but  I  have  been  for  some  time  past 

very  comfortless.    My  friends  here  ever  continue  kind,  and  much 

notice  is  taken  of  me. 

I  had  two  pretty  letters  from  Susy  and  Sophy,  to  which  I  will 
send  answers,  for  they  are  two  dear  girls.  You  must  all  guess 
again  at  my  friend  ^ 

I  dined  about  a  fortnight  ago  with  three  old  friends ;  we  had 
not  met  together  for  thirty  years,  and  one  of  us  thought  the 
other'*  grown  very  old.  In  the  thirty  years  two  of  our  set 
have   died  -^  ;    our   meeting  may  be  supposed  to  be  somewhat 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  339.  members   were  alive    but    Hawkes- 

From  the  day  after  that  on  which  worth  and   Dyer.     The  Club  which 

he  wrote  this  letter  he  was  confined  Hawkins   describes  had   ten    mem- 

to   the   house    for   129   days.     Post,  bers, —  Johnson,    Hawkins,   Ryland, 

Letters  of  March   10  and  April  21,  Payne,  Barker,  Salter,  Dyer,  M'Ghie, 

1784.  Bathurst  and  Hawkesworth.  Of  these 

-  '  Vellication.  Twitching;  stimu-  the   last   six   were    dead.     Hawkins 

lation.'     Johnson's  Dictionary .  adds  that  it  was  formed  in  the  winter 

^  A}ite,\\.  352.  of  1749,   and   broke    up   about    the 

*  Johnson,  I  conjecture,  wrote  'the  year  1756.     Hawkins's  _/6>//«.v6';/,  pp. 

others.'     It  was    Hawkins    perhaps  219,    361.     The   difference    between 

who  thought  his  friends  grown  old.  his  account   and  Johnson's   is   irre- 

*  I  could  not  but  compare  our  meet-  concilable.   I  conjecture  that  the  Old 

ing,'  he  writes,  '  to  that  of  the  four  Club  was  dissolved  earlier  than  he 

old  men  in  the  Senile  Colloquium  of  states,  and  that  a  second  was  formed 

Erasmus.'      Hawkins's  Johnson,   p.  composed  only  of  six  members.    Ac- 

563.  cording   to    Nichols    {Lit.  Ancc.  ix. 

^  Johnson,  post,  p.  390,  says  that  502)  the  Club  was  known    as   The 

it    was  three   and    thirty  years   ago  Rambler   Club.      Perhaps   this    was 

that  the  Club  met.  and  that  all  the  a  second  Club. 

tender. 


Aetat.  74.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor. 


;65 


tender.  I  boasted  that  I  had  passed  the  day  with  three  friends, 
and  that  no  mention  had  been  made  among  any  of  us  of  the  air 
ballon,  which  has  taken  full  possession,  with  a  very  good  claim, 
of  every  philosophical  mind  and  mouth  '.  Do  you  not  wish  for 
the  flying  coach  *  ? 

Take  care  of  your  own  health,  compose  your  mind,  and  you 
have  yet  strength  of  body  to  be  well. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

918. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 
Dear  Sir, 

Perhaps  you  wonder  that  I  do  not  write.  I  am  very  severely 
crushed  [?  harassed]  by  my  old  spasm  which  suffers  [?  suffering] 
me  to  get  no  sleep  in  the  night,  necessarily  condemns  the  day  to 
sluggishness  and  restlessness.  I  am  indeed  exceedingly  distressed. 
I  think  you  have  chosen  well,  in  taking  a  later  month  for 
yourself^,  but  I  was  sorry  to  miss  you  so  long  a  time.     I  am 


'  Horace  Walpole  wrote  a  few- 
days  earlier  : — '  Balloons  occupy 
senators,  philosophers,  ladies,  every- 
body. .  .  .  All  this  may  be  very  im- 
portant ;  to  me  it  looks  somewhat 
foolish.'  Letters,  viii.  438.  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  wrote  to  Sir  J.  Banks 
from  Passy  near  Paris  on  November 
21: — 'A  few  months  since  the  Idea 
of  Witches  riding  through  the  Air 
upon  a  Broomstick  and  that  of 
Philosophers  upon  a  bag  of  Smoke 
would  have  appeared  equally  im- 
possible and  ridiculous.'  Messrs. 
Sotheby  &  Co.'s  Auction  Catalogue, 
March  11,  1886,  Lot  1281.  'Beaucoup 
de  gens  qui  se  piquent  de  rester 
froids  au  milieu  de  I'enthousiasme 
public  n'ont  pas  manque  de  rep^ter  : 
— "  Mais  quelle  utilite  retirera-t-on 
de  ces  experiences  ?  A  quoi  bon  cette 
decouverte  dont  on  fait  tant  de 
bruit."  Le  venerable  Franklin  leur 
repond    avec    sa    simplicity    accou- 


tumee  : — "  Eh  !  k  quoi  bon  I'enfant 
qui  vient  de  naitre  ? " '  Memoires 
Historiques,  &c.  Par  Grimm  et 
Diderot,  ed.  18 14,  iii.  66. 

^  Eight  years  later  Darwin  wrote 
in  his  Economy  of  Vegetation,  i. 
289:— 

'  Soon    shall   thy   arm,   unconquer'd 
Steam  I  afar 
Drag  the  slow  barge,  or  drive  the 

rapid  car ; 
Or  on  wide-waving  wings  expanded 

bear 
The  flying-chariot  through  the  fields 
of  air.' 
^  From  the  original  in  the  Dreer 
Autograph    Collection   belonging  to 
the    Historical    Society  of  Pennsyl- 
vania.    I  owe  the  copy  to  the  kind- 
ness  of  Mr.   John   W.   Jordan    the 
Assistant  Librarian. 

*  The  month,  no  doubt,  in  which 
he  should  reside  as  a  Prebendary  of 
Westminster. 

indeed 


366  7^0  Miss  Reynolds.  [a.d.  i783. 

indeed  heavily  loaded  with  distempers.  Sometimes  I  fancy  that 
exercise  would  help  me,  but  exercise  I  know  not  how  to  get. 
Sometimes  I  think  that  a  warmer  climate  would  relieve  me^  but 
the  removal  requires  a  great  deal  of  money.  At  present  I  subsist 
by  opiates,  and  with  them  shall  try  to  fight  through  the  winter, 
and  try  something  efficacious,  if  life  be  granted  me,  in  the  Spring. 
The  [?  sarcocele]  continues  well.  Write  to  what  comfort  you  can. 
We  are  almost  left  alone, 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  affectionate,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

London,  Dec.  20,  1783. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

919. 

To  Miss  Reynolds  ^ 
T-.  HT  December  23,  1783. 

Dearest  Madam,  •"   '  ^ 

You  shall  doubtless  be  very  welcome  to  me  on  Christmas 
day.  I  .shall  not  dine  alone,  but  the  company  will  all  be  people 
whom  we  can  stay  with  or  leave.  I  will  expect  you  at  three,  if 
I  hear  no  more.     I  am  this  day  a  little  better". 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam  Johnson. 

I  mean,  do  not  be  later  than  three  ;  for  as  I  am  afraid  I  shall 
not  be  at  church,  you  cannot  come  too  soon. 

920. 

To  James  Boswell. 

London,  December  24,  1783.     Published  in  the  Life.,  iv.  248. 

'  Urst  published  in  Croker's  Bos-  better  since,  though   still  in  a  most 

well,  page  744.  alarming   way.     Indeed,   I  am   very 

-  Miss   Burney   recorded   on  De-  much  afraid  for  him.     He  was  very, 

cember  16  : — '  I  spent  the  afternoon  very  kind.     Oh  !  what  a  cruel,  heavy 

with    Dr.   Johnson,    who   indeed   is  loss  will  he  be ! '     Mme.  D'Arblay's 

very  ill,  and   whom  I   could  hardly  Diary,  ii.  293.  ^ 

tell  how  to  leave.     But  he  is  rather 

To 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mts.  Tkrak.  367 


921. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  '. 
Dear   Madam,  London,  Dec.  27,  1783. 

The   wearisome  solitude  of  the  long  evenings  did   indeed 

suggest  to  me  the  convenience  of  a  club  in  my  neighbourhood, 

but  I  have  been  hindered  from  attending  it  by  want  of  breath. 

If  I  can  complete  the  scheme,  you  shall  have  the  names  and  the 

regulations  ^. 

The  time  of  the  year,  for  I  hope  the  fault  is  rather  in  the 
weather  than  in  me,  has  been  very  hard  upon  me.  The  muscles 
of  my  breast  are  much  convulsed.  Dr.  Heberden  recommends 
opiates,  of  which  I  have  such  horrour  that  I  do  not  think  of  them 
but  iji  extremis^.  I  was  however  driven  to  them  last  night  for 
refuge,  and  having  taken  the  usual  quantity  durst  not  go  to  bed, 
for  fear  of  that  uneasiness  to  which  a  supine  posture  exposes  me, 
but  rested  all  night  in  a  chair  with  much  relief,  and  have  been 
to-day  more  warm,  active,  and  cheerful. 

You  have  more  than  once  wondered  at  my  complaint  of 
solitude,  when  you  hear  that  I  am  crowded  with  visits.  Inopeni 
me copia fecit'' .  Visitors  are  no  proper  companions  in  the  chamber 
of  sickness.  They  come  when  I  could  sleep  or  read,  they  stay 
till  I  am  weary,  they  force  me  to  attend  when  my  mind  calls  for 
relaxation,  and  to  speak  when  my  powers  will  hardly  actuate  my 
tongue.  The  amusements  and  consolations  of  languor  and 
depression  are  conferred  by  familiar  and  domestick  companions, 
which  can  be  visited  or  called  at  will,  and  can  occasionally  be 
quitted  or  dismissed,  who  do  not  obstruct  accommodation  ^  by 
ceremony,  or  destroy  indolence  by  awakening  effort. 

'  Pioszi  Letters,  ii.  340.  to  Boswell  three    days   earlier  : — '  I 

-  For   '  the  little  evening  club  in  am  now  a  little  better.     But  sickness 

Essex  Street,  in  the  Strand,'  see  Life,  and  solitude  press  me  very  heavily. 

iv.  253,  436.  I  could  bear  sickness  better  if  I  were 

^  Boswell  records  that  having  called  relieved  from  solitude.'     lb.  iv.  249. 

on  Johnson  on  March  23  in  this  year  The  quotation  is  from  Ovid's  Meta- 

he  found    him    relieved   by   opium.  morphoses,  iii.  466. 
'  He   however    protested    against   it  ^  Acco/juiwdation   is    a    favourite 

as   a  remedy  that  should   be  given  word  with  Johnson.  He  defines  it : — 

with  the  utmost  reluctance,  and  only  '  i.  Provision  of  conveniences.    2.  In 

in  extreme  necessity.'    Life,  iv.  171.  the  plural,  conveniences,  things  re- 

■*  Ante,   ii.  326.     He   had    written  quisite  to  ease  or  refreshment.'     In 

Such 


68 


To  Mi's.  Tlirale. 


[A.D.  1783. 


Such  society  I   had   with  Levet  and  Williams  ;  such   I  had 
where — I  am  never  likely  to  have  it  more  '. 

I  wish,  dear  Lady,  to  you  and  my  dear  girls  many  a  cheerful 
and  pious  Christmas. 

I  am, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

922. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 
Dear   Madam,  London,  Dec.  31,  1783. 

Since  you  cannot  guess,  I  will  tell  you  that  the  generous 
man  was  Gerard  Hamilton.  I  returned  him  a  very  thankful  and 
respectful  letter  I 

Your  enquiry  about  Lady  Carlisle''  I   cannot  answer,  for   I 


T/ie Rambler,  No.  145, he  says : — 'The 
meanest  artizan  or  manufacturer  con- 
tributes more  to  the  accommodation 
of  life  than  the  profound  scholar  and 
argumentative  theorist.'  The  Duke 
in  Measure  for  JMeasiire,  Act  iii.  sc.  i, 
1.  13,  reasoning  with  life  says  : — 

'Thou  art  not  noble  ; 

For   all   the   accommodations   that 
thou  bear'st 

Are  nursed  by  baseness.' 
See  Life^  v.  310,  n.  3  for  accotnnwdate. 
'  Mme.  D'Arblay  records  that 
some  day  in  the  autumn  of  this  year 
she  called  on  him.  Hitherto  he  had 
never  mentioned  to  her  his  fears 
about  Mrs.  Thrale.  As  she  sat  with 
him,  '  a  sudden  change  from  kind 
tranquillity  to  strong  austerity  took 
place  in  his  countenance ;  startled 
and  affrighted  she  held  her  peace. 
A  silence  almost  awful  succeeded. 
Then  see-sawing  violently  in  his 
chair,  as  usual  when  he  was  big  with 
any  powerful  emotion  whether  of 
pleasure  or  of  pain,  he  seemed  deeply 
moved;  but  without  looking  at  her, 
or  speaking,  he  intently  fixed  his 
eyes  upon  the  fire.     Then  suddenly 


turning  to  her  with  an  air  of  mingled 
wrath  and  woe  he  hoarsely  ejacu- 
lated :—"  Piozzi !  "  He  evidently 
meant  to  say  more ;  but  the  effort 
with  which  he  articulated  that  name 
robbed  him  of  any  voice  for  amplifi- 
cation, and  his  whole  frame  grew 
tremulously  convulsed.  At  length, 
and  with  great  agitation,  he  broke 
forth  with  : — "  She  cares  for  no  one. 
You,  only — you,  she  loves  still.  But 
no  one — anc"  nothing  else.  You  she 
still  loves—."  A  half  smile  now, 
though  of  no  very  gay  character, 
softened  a  little  the  severity  of  his 
features,  while  he  tried  to  resume 
some  cheerfulness  in  adding  : — "  as 
— she  loves  her  little  finger."  He 
saw  how  distressing  was  the  theme 
to  a  hearer  whom  he  ever  wished  to 
please,  not  distress  ;  and  he  named 
Mrs.  Thrale  no  more.'  Memoirs  of 
Dr.  Biinuy,  ii.  358-63.  (I  have 
abridged  the  account.) 

"  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  342. 

^  Life,  iv.  24s,  and  ante,  ii.  352,  364. 

"  The  wife  of  the  fifth  Earl  of 
Carlisle  and  daughter  of  the  first 
Marquis  of  Stafford. 

never 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mvs.    Tlirale.  369 

never  saw  her,  unless  perhaps  without  knowing  her   at  a    con- 
versation '. 

Sir  Joshua  has  just  been  here,  and  knows  nothing  of  Miss 
Bingham  ;  if  one  of  Lord  Lucan's  daughters  be  meant,  the  eldest 
is  now  Lady  Spencer  ;  she  is  languishing  in  France  with  a  diseased 
leg,  and  the  third  is  a  child  ^. 

Pray  send  the  letter  which  you  think  will  divert  me,  for  I  have 
much  need  of  entertainment ;  spiritless,  infirm,  sleepless  and 
solitary,  looking  back  with  sorrow  and  forward  with  terrour  : — 
but  I  will  stop. 

Barry  of  Ireland  had  a  notion  that  a  man's  pulse  wore  him 
out  ^ ;  my  beating  breast  wears  out  me.  The  physicians  yester- 
day covered  it  with  a  blister,  of  which  the  effect  cannot  yet  be 
known  ^  Good  God  prosper  their  endeavours  !  Heberden  is  of 
opinion  that  while  the  weather  is  oppressive  we  must  palliate. 

In  the  mean  time  I  am  well  fed  ;  I  have  now  in  the  house 
pheasant,  venison,  turkey  and  ham,  all  unbought.  Attention  and 
respect  give  pleasure,  however  late  or  however  useless.  But  they 
are  not  useless  when  they  are  late  ;  it  is  reasonable  to  rejoice,  as 
the  day  declines,  to  find  that  it  has  been  spent  with  the  appro- 
bation of  mankind  ^. 

'  Ante,  ii.  105,  n.  4.  mosthenes  that  offended  King  Philip 

^  For  Johnson's  acquaintance  with  and  the  whole  Court  of  Macedon  ! ' 

Lord  Lucan's  family  see  atite,  ii.  65,  Letters,  viii.  74. 

nn.  4,  9.     Gibbon,  writing  from  Lau-  ^  <  j^jg  notion  was  that  pulsation 

sanne  on  September  5, 1 785  about  his  occasions  death  by  attrition  ;  and  that 

English  visitors  says  :— '  Those  who  therefore  the  way  to  preserve  life  is 

have  repaid  me  for  the  rest  were  Lord  to  retard  pulsation.'     Life,  iii.  34. 

and  Lady  Spencer.    He  is  a  valuable  "  Miss Burney records:— 'Tuesday, 

man,    and    where    he    is   familiar   a  December  30.     I  spent  the  evening 

pleasant  companion  ;  she  a  charming  with  Dr.  Johnson.    There  were  some 

woman,  who  with    sense  and  spirit  very  disagreeable  people  with  him  ; 

has  the  simplicity  and  playfulness  of  and  he  once  affected  me  very  much 

a  child.'     Gibbon's  Misc.   IVor/cs,  ii.  by    turning    suddenly    to    me,    and 

384.     Jones   composed   an    Ode   on  grasping   my   hand,   and   saying  : — 

their    marriage,    of   which    Horace  '  The   blister   I    have   tried    for   my 

Walpole  wrote  : — '  If  it  is  not  perfect,  breath  has  betrayed  some  very  bad 

still    the    eighth,    ninth    and    tenth  tokens ;  but  I  will  not  terrify  myself 

stanzas  have  merit  enough  to  shock  by  talking  of  them  ;  ah,  prz'ez  Dieu 

Dr.  Johnson,   and    such    sycophant  pour  7noi.^     Mme.  D'Arblay's  Z>/«rK, 

old   nurses,  and  that  is  enough   for  ii.  295. 

me.    How  precious  is  any  line  of  De-  ^  '  Our  uncertainty  concerning  our 

VOL.  II.  B  b  The 


3  JO  To  the  Reverend  Dr.   Taylor.  [a.d.  i784. 

The  ministry  is  again  broken,  and  to  any  man  who  extends  his 
thoughts  to  national  consideration  the  times  are  dismal  and 
gloomy  \     But  to  a  sick  man  what  is  the  publick  ? 

The  new  year  is  at  hand  ;  may  God  make  it  happy  to  me,  to 
you,  to  us  all,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake  !     Amen  '■'■. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson, 

923. 

DfaR  Sip      '^°  "^^^  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^. 

I  was  intending  to  write  to  you,  to  quarrel  with  your  silence, 
when  waking  after  a  short  sleep  in  my  chair,  I  found  your  kind 
letter  lying  on  the  table. 

Since  your  Milk  has  restored  you,  let  it  preserve  you,  do  not 
forsake  it  again  for  any  length  of  time.  As  for  me  I  know  not 
on  which  side  to  turn  me,  I  am  irregular  in  nothing.  My  breast 
is  now  covered  with  a  blister,  which  is,  I  believe,  to  be  kept  open ; 
it  gives  no  pain,  and  perhaps  has  hitherto  produced  no  benefit, 
for  though  I  have  not  since  its  application,  suffered  anything 
from  Spasms,  I  have  never  been  without  opium,  and  therefore 

own  merit,  and  our  anxiety  to  think  Life,  iv.  249.     Earl  Temple,  who  on 

favourably    of    it,    should    together  the  19th  entered  Pitt's   Ministry  as 

naturally  enough  make  us  desirous  Secretary  of  State,  had  resigned  on 

to  know  the  opinion  of  other  people  the    22nd.     Pm'l.    Hist.    xxiv.    227. 

concerning    it  ;    to    be    more    than  *  The   heart   of  the  young  minister, 

ordinarily  elevated  when  that  opinion  stout  as  it  was,  almost  died  within 

is  favourable.'    Adam  Smith's  Theory  him.     He  could  not  once  close  his 

of  Moral  Sentiments,    ed.    1801,    i.  eyes  on   the   night    which    followed 

250.  Temple's  resignation.'      Macaulay's 

'  To    Boswell    he   had   written   a  Misc.  ^K^^r/'i-,  ed.  1871,  p.  407. 

week  earlier:— 'The  present  dreadful  ^  I"     Messrs.     Sotheby    &     Co.'s 

confusion    of   the   publick  ought    to  Auction  Catalogue  of  May  10,  1875, 

make  you  wrap  yourself  up  in  your  Lot    119    is    'a    beautiful   and    most 

hereditary  possessions,  which,  though  pious  prayer  in  the  autograph  of  Dr. 

less  than  you  may  wish,  are  more  Johnson,  dated  January  i,  p.m.   11, 

than  you  can  want;  and  in  an  hour  1784-'     It  was  sold  for  eight  guineas, 

of  religious  retirement  return  thanks  ^  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 

to  God,  who  has  exempted  you  from  sion  of  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison,  of  Font- 

any    strong    temptation    to    faction,  hill  House, 
treachery,    plunder,  and  disloyalty.' 

know 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mts.   Tkrak.  371 

know  not,  which  has  helped  me ;  nor  am  I  helped  much,  for  in 
bed  I  scarce  get  any  sleep  ;  what  I  have  is  in  a  chair.  Dr.  Heberden 
tells  me  that  I  must  be  content  to  support  myself  by  opiates  in 
the  winter,  and  try  to  get  better  help  in  hotter  weather. 

In  spring  I  have  a  desire  of  trying  milk  somewhere  in  the 
country.  My  lower  parts  begin  to  swell.  May  we  all  be  received 
to  mercy. 

There  is  likely  to  be  a  vacancy  soon  in  Wicher's  Alms- 
houses in  Chappel  street ',  which  it  will  [be]  your  Dean's  turn  to 
fill  up.  A  poor  relation  of  mine  wants  a  habitation.  His  name 
is  Heely.  I  intend  to  ask  Dr.  Bell's  interest,  and  if  you  [think] 
it  proper,  wish  you  would  write  to  the  Dean  in  Heely's  favour  ^ 

I  wish  us  both  a  happy  year. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Affectionately  yours, 

London,  Jan.  3,  1784.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

Write  soon  and  often. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 

924. 

To  Charles  Dilly. 
[London],  January  6,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  257. 

925. 

Dear   Madam,  '^°  ^^^-  Thrale^.      London,  Jan.  12,  1784. 

If,  as  you  observe,  my  former  letter  was  written  with  trepi- 
dation, there  is  little  reason,  except  the  habit  of  enduring,  why 

'  Chapel  Street,  Broad  Way,  West-  against     Johnson     by    Hawkins    of 

minster.      Dodsley's  London,  ii.  90.  neglecting     this     man,    says : — *  Sir 

'  Your  Dean '  was  the  Dean  of  West-  John  chooses  to  call  him  a  relatw?t 

minster.  For  Dr.  Bell  see  ,r/«/^  i.  118.  of    Dr.   Johnson's.'      Life,    iv.    370, 

-  For  Heely  see  ante,  i.  306.  He  Johnson  however  here  speaks  of  him 
was  elected  to  the  Almshouse.  Haw-  as  '  a  poor  relation  of  mine.'  Relation 
kins  visited  him  there,  and  was  in-  he  dt^nts  a.s  a  perso?t  related  by  birth 
formed  by  him  that  '  the  endowment  or  marriage.  Heely's  second  mar- 
yielded  him  an  allowance  of  half-a-  riage,  especially  as  he  had  no  children 
crown  a  week,  and  half  a  chaldron  by  his  first  wife,  Johnson's  cousin, 
of  coals  at  Christmas.'  Hawkins's  did,  as  Boswell  says,  dissolve  the 
Johnson,  p.  602.  Boswell,  properly  connection, 
censuring  the  unjust  charge  brought  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  344. 

B  b  2  this 


372  To  Mrs.   Tlirale.  [a.d.  1784. 

this  should  shew  more  steadiness.  I  am  confined  to  the  house ; 
I  do  not  know  that  any  things  grow  better  ;  my  physicians  direct 
me  to  combat  the  hard  weather  with  opium ;  I  cannot  well 
support  its  turbulence,  and  yet  cannot  forbear  it,  for  its  immediate 
effect  is  ease  ;  having  kept  me  waking  all  the  night  it  forces 
sleep  upon  me  in  the  day,  and  recompenses  a  night  of  tediousness 
with  a  day  of  uselessness.  My  legs  and  my  thighs  grow  very 
tumid ' :  in  the  mean  time  my  appetite  is  good,  and  if  my 
physicians  do  not  flatter  me  death  is  [not]  rushing  upon  me^. 
But  this  is  in  the  hand  of  God. 

The  first  talk  of  the  sick  is  commonly  of  themselves  ;  but  if 
they  talk  of  nothing  else,  they  cannot  complain  if  they  are  soon 
left  without  an  audience. 

You  observe,  Madam,  that  the  ballon  engages  all  mankind,  and 
it  is  indeed  a  wonderful  and  unexpected  addition  to  human 
knowledge^ ;  but  we  have  a  daring  projector,  who,  disdaining  the 
help  of  fumes  and  vapours,  is  making  better  than  Daedalean 
wings,  with  which  he  will  master  the  ballon  and  its  companions 
as  an  eagle  masters  a  goose.  It  is  very  seriously  true  that  a  sub- 
scription of  eight  hundred  pounds  has  been  raised  for  the  wire 
and  workmanship  of  iron  wings'*;  one  pair  of  which,  and  I  think 
a  tail;,  are  now  shown  in  the  Haymarket,  and  they  are  making 
another  pair  at  Birmingham.  The  whole  is  said  to  weigh  two 
hundred  pounds — no  specious  preparation  for  flying,  but  there 
are  those  who  expect  to  see  him  in  the  sky.  When  I  can  leave 
the  house  I  will  tell  you  more. 

'   TiMud  is  one  of  '  the  three  un-  day  which  went  to  Bristol  in  an  hour 

common    or   learned    words'    which  from    hence.      I  dare   say   Sir  John 

Boswell    discovers   in  the   Lives   of  Lade's  phaeton    would  have  beaten 

the  Poets.     Johnson  describes  Wal-  our  Icarus  out  of  sight.'    Mme.  D'Ar- 

ler's  legs  as  growing  tui/iid.    Life,  iv.  blay's  Diarv,  ii.  300. 

39-  ■*  Johnson,  in  Rdsselas,  ch.  vi,  in 

"  I  have  inserted  not -which,  clearly  '  A  Dissertation  on  the  Art  of  Flying,' 

seems  omitted.     See  the  next  letter  had  ridiculed  the  invention  of  wings. 

for   Dr.    Heberden's   favourable    re-  '  In   a   year,'  he  writes,   '  they  were 

port  of  his  state.  finished,  and  on  a  morning  appointed 

^  Mrs.  Thrale  wrote  to  Miss  Bur-  the   maker   appeared,  furnished   for 

ney  from    Bath   on   January    15: —  flight,   on   a   little    promontory:    he 

'  Air  balloons  go  no  faster  than  post-  waved  his  pinions  awhile  to  gather 

horses  at  last.     I  caught  my  death  air,  then  leaped  from  his  stand,  and 

almost  by  looking  at  one  the  other  in  an  instant  dropped  into  the  lake.' 

I  had 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.   Thrale. 


373 


I  had  the  same  old  friends  to  dine  with  me  on  Wednesday  ', 
and  may  say  that  since  I  lost  sight  of  you  I  have  had  one  pleasant 

^'  I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 
Pray  send  me  a  direction  to  Sir Musgrave  in  Ireland^. 


926. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  3. 
Dear   Madam,  London,  Jan.  21,  1784. 

Dr.  Heberden  this  day  favoured  me  with  a  visit  ;  and  after 
hearing  what  I  had  to  tell  him  of  miseries  and  pains,  and  com- 
paring my  present  with  my  past  state,  declared  me  well.  That 
his  opinion  is  erroneous,  I  know  with  too  much  certainty;  and 
yet  was  glad  to  hear  it,  as  it  set  extremities  at  a  greater  distance  : 
he  who  is  by  his  physician  thought  well,  is  at  least  not  thought 
in  immediate  danger.  They  therefore  whose  attention  to  me 
makes  them  talk  of  my  health,  will,  I  hope,  soon  not  drop,  but 
lose  their  subject.  But,  alas  !  I  had  no  sleep  last  night,  and  sit 
now  panting  over  my  paper.  Dabit  Dejis  his  qiwqiie  ji^ieni  ■*, 
I  have  really  hope  from  spring  ;  and  am  ready,  like  Almanzor,  to 
bid  the  's,\xx\fiy  swiftly,  and  leave  weeks  ajid  months  behind  him  ^. 
The  sun  has  looked  for  six  thousand  years  upon  the  world  to 
little  purpose,  if  he  does  not  know  that  a  sick  man  is  almost 
as  impatient  as  a  lover. 

Mr.  Cator  gives  such  an  account  of  Miss  Cecy*^,  as  you  and  all 


Musgrave. 


Ante, 


'  A)itc,  ii.  364. 

*  Sir    Richard 
ii.  295,  n.  I. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  346. 

■'  '  This  too  the  gods  shall  end.' 

j£neid\.  199. 

Windham,  who  called  on  him  this 
day,  found  him  too  ill  to  admit  him  ; 
as  was  the  case  also  on  the  24th  and 
25th.    Windham's  Diary,  p.  2. 

^  Almanzor's  speech  is  at  the  end 
of  Dryden's  Conquest  of  Granada  : — 


'  Move  swiftly.  Sun,  and  fly  a  lover's 
pace ; 
Leave  weeks  and   months  behind 
thee  in  thy  race.' 
Johnson  no  longer  says,  as  he  had 
said  twenty-five  years  earlier  in  the 
strength  of  his  manhood,  that   '  the 
distinction   of  seasons   is    produced 
only   by   imagination    operating    on 
luxury.     To   temperance   every  day 
is  bright.'     The  Idler,  No.  xi. 
*  For    Mr.    Cator,    one    of    Mr. 

of 


-"J 4  To  the  Reverend  Dr.    Taylor.         [a.d.  i784. 


o 


of  us  must  delight  to  hear ;  Cator  has  a  rough,  manly,  inde- 
pendent understanding,  and  does  not  spoil  it  by  complaisance  ; 
he  never  speaks  merely  to  please,  and  seldom  is  mistaken  in 
things  which  he  has  any  right  to  know.  I  think  well  of  her  for 
pleasing  him,  and  of  him  for  being  pleased  ;  and  at  the  close  ', 
am  delighted  to  find  him  delighted  with  her  excellence.  Let 
your  children,  dear  Madam,  be  Jiis  care,  and  yoitr  pleasure  ;  close 
your  thoughts  upon  them,  and  when  sad  fancies  are  excluded, 
health  and  peace  will  return  together. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your  old  Friend, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

927. 

To  Mr.  Perkins. 
[London],  January  21,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  257. 

928. 

-^  ^         To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 

Dear  Sir, 

I  am  still  confined  to  the  house,  and  one  of  my  amusements 

is  to  write  letters  to  my  friends,  though  they,  being  busy  in  the 

common  scenes  of  life,  are  not  equally  diligent  in  writing  to  me. 

Dr.  Heberden  was  with  me  two  or  three  days  ago,  and  told  me 

that  nothing  ailed  me,  which  I  am  glad  to  hear,  though  I  knew 

it  not  to  be  true.     My  nights  are  restless,  my  breath  is  difficult, 

and  my  lower  parts  continue  tumid. 

The  struggle,  you  see,  still  continues  between  the  two  sets  of 

ministers  :  those  that  are  out  and  in  one  can  scarce  call  them,  for 

who  is  07it  or  in  is  perhaps  four  times  a  day  a  new  question  ^. 

Thrale's  executors,  see  ante,  i.  355,  the  Life,  vol.  iv,  page  260,  from  the 

n.'j.   Cecyis  Mrs.  Thrale's  daughter,  original  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  M. 

Caecilia.  She  did  not  die  till  seventy-  M.  Holloway  of  Hillbrow,  Streatham. 

three  years  after  this  good  account  ^  p^^   j^^^   com&    into    office    on 

was  given  of  her.  December   19  of  the  previous  year, 

'  '  At  the  close'' \%,  I  think,  a  very  not     by   a   vote    of   the    House    of 

uncommon  expression  for  in  short  or  Commons,  but  by  the  favour  of  the 

mjinc.  King.    Ante,\\.  ^jo.n.  \.    'Hiscon- 

"  First  published  in  my  edition  of  test  against  the  House  of  Commons 

The 


Aetat.  74.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor. 


;75 


The  tumult  in  government  is,  I  believe,  excessive,  and  the  efforts 
of  each  party  outrageously  violent,  with  very  little  thought  on 
any  national  interest,  at  a  time  when  we  have  all  the  world  for 
our  enemies,  when  the  King  and  parliament  have  lost  even  the 
titular  dominion  of  America  ^,  and  the  real  power  of  Government 
every  where  else.  Thus  Empires  are  broken  down  when  the 
profits  of  administration  are  so  great,  that  ambition  is  satisfied 
with  obtaining  them,  and  he  that  aspires  to  greatness  needs  do 
nothing  more  than  talk  himself  into  importance.  He  has  then 
all  the  power  which  danger  and  conquest  used  formerly  to  give  ; 
he  can  raise  a  family  and  reward  his  followers. 

Mr.  Burke  has  just  sent  me  his  Speech  upon  the  affairs  of 
India,  a  volume  of  above  a  hundred  pages  closely  printed  ^.  I  will 
look  into  it;  but  my  thoughts  seldom  now  travel  to  great  distances. 

I  would  gladly  know  when  you  think  to  come  hither,  and 
whether  this  year  you  will  come  or  no.  If  my  life  be  continued, 
I  know  not  well  how  I  shall  bestow  myself. 

I  am^,  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

'  London,  Jan.  24,  1784.' 

'  To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


lasted  from  the  17th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1783,  to  the  end  of  March, 
1784.  In  sixteen  divisions  the  op- 
position triumphed.  Again  and  again 
the  King  was  requested  to  dismiss  his 
ministers.  But  he  was  determined 
to  go  to  Germany  rather  than  yield.' 
Macaulay's  Misc.  Works,  ed.  1871, 
p.  407.  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on 
February  2  : — '  Once  or  twice  a  week 
there  is  a  day  which  it  is  said  will  be 
decisive.  To-day  is  in  that  number  ; 
yet  I  expect  it  so  little,  that  I  am 
writing  to  you  at  ten  at  night,  with- 
out inquiring  whether  the  House  of 
Commons, where  action  was  expected, 
is  up,  without  knowing  what  was  to 
be  there.'     Letters,  viii.  453. 

'  By  the  first  article  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  signed  at  Paris  on  September 
3,   1783.     George   III,  'for  himself. 


his  heirs  and  successors  relinquished 
all  claims  to  the  government,  pro- 
priety and  territorial  rights  of  the 
United  States  of  America  and  every 
part  thereof.' 

'^  Burke's  Speech  in  the  House  of 
Commons  on  December  i,  1783,  on 
Fox's  India  Bill.  Pari.  Hist.,  xxiii. 
13 12.  It  was  published  by  Dodsley. 
In  this  speech  describing  the  English 
rule  in  India  he  said  : — '  England  has 
erected  no  churches,  no  hospitals,  no 
palaces,  no  schools ;  England  has 
built  no  bridges,  made  no  high  roads, 
cut  no  navigations,  dug  out  no 
reservoirs.  Every  other  conqueror 
of  every  other  description  has  left 
some  monument,  either  of  state  or 
beneficence,  behind  him.  Were  we 
to  be  driven  out  of  India  this  day, 
nothing  would  remain  to  tell  that  it 

To 


376  To  Mrs.   Thrale.  [a.d.  i784. 

929. 

To  Richard  Clark. 
[London],  January  27,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  258. 

930. 

Dear  Sir,  '^^  ^^-  Heberden  '. 

When  you  favoured  me  with  your  last  visit,  you  left  me  full 
of  cheerfulness  and  hope.  But  my  Distemper  prevails,  and  my 
hopes  sink,  and  dejection  oppresses  me.  I  entreat  you  to  come 
again  to  me  and  tell  me  if  any  hope  of  amendment  remains  and 
by  what  medicines  or  methods  it  may  be  promoted.  Let  mc  see 
you,  dear  Sir,  as  soon  as  you  can. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  obliged  and 

most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Bolt-court,  Fleet  Street,  Feb.  6,  1784. 

931. 

Dear  Madam,  To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^     London,  Feb.  9,  1784. 

The  remission  of  the  cold  did  not  continue  long  enough  to 
afford  me  much  relief  You  are,  as  I  perceive,  afraid  of  the 
opium ;  I  had  the  same  terrour,  and  admitted  its  assistance  only 
under  the  pressure  of  insupportable  distress,  as  of  an  auxiliary 
too  powerful  and  too  dangerous.  But  in  this  pinching  season  I 
cannot  live  without  it ;  and  the  quantity  which  I  take  is  less  than 
it  once  was. 

My  physicians  flatter  me,  that  the  season  is  a  great  part  of  my 
disease ;  and  that  when  warm  weather  restores  perspiration,  this 
watery  disease  will  evaporate.  I  am  at  least  willing  to  flatter 
myself. 

I   have  been  forced  to  sit  up  many  nights  by  an  obstinate 

had   been  possessed  during  the  in-  sion  of  the  Rev.  C.  G.  Andrews,  of 

glorious  period  of  our  dominion,  by  Wouldhain    Rectory,    Rochester,   a 

anything    better    than    the     ouran-  great-grandson  of  Dr.  Heberden. 

outang  or  the  tiger.'     lb.  p.  1333.  =  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  34S. 
'  P>om  the  original  in  the  posses- 

sleeplesness, 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.    Tlirale^ 


Z17 


sleeplesness,  which  makes  the  time  in  bed  intolerably  tedious, 
and  which  continues  my  drowsiness  the  following  day.  Besides, 
I  can  sometimes  sleep  erect,  when  I  cannot  close  my  eyes  in  a 
recumbent  posture.  I  have  just  bespoke  a  flannel  dress,  which  I 
can  easily  slip  off  and  on,  as  I  go  into  bed,  or  get  out  of  it.  Thus 
pass  my  days  and  nights  in  morbid  wakefulness,  in  unseasonable 
sleepiness,  in  gloomy  solitude,  with  unwelcome  visitors,  or  un- 
grateful exclusions,  in  variety  of  wretchedness.  But  I  snatch 
every  lucid  interval ',  and  animate  myself  with  such  amusements 
as  the  time  offers. 

One  thing  which  I  have  just  heard,  you  will  think  to  surpass 
expectation.  The  Chaplain  of  the  factory  at  Petersburg  relates, 
that  the  Rambler  is  now,  by  the  command  of  the  Empress,  trans- 
lating into  Russian ' ;  and  has  promised  when  it  is  printed  to 
send  me  a  copy. 


'  Johnson  gives  in  his  Dictio7iary  ex- 
amples of  lucid  interval  from  Bacon, 
Dryden,  The  Taller,  and  Bentley. 
He  defines  it  'bright  with  the 
radiance  of  intellect ;  not  darkened 
with  madness.^  Gibbon  tells  how  he 
was  sent  to  school  '  in  a  lucid  interval 
of  comparative  health.'  Misc.  Works, 
i.  31. 

^  The  Chaplain  was  the  Rev. 
William  Tooke,  author  of  A  viezv  of 
the  Russian  Empire  during  the  Reign 
of  Catherine  II.  Nichols  introduced 
him  to  Johnson,  and  heard  him  tell 
him  that '  translations  of  the  Rambler 
and  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries 
had  been  made  into  the  Russian 
language  by  the  especial  command  of 
the  Empress.'  Nichols's  Lit.  Anec, 
ii.  553.  Three  months  later,  at  the 
Essex-Head  Club, '  Johnson  called  to 
us,'  writes  Boswell,  'with  a  sudden 
air  of  exultation,  as  the  thought 
started  into  his  mind,  "  O  !  Gentle- 
men, I  must  tell  you  a  very  great 
thing.  The  Empress  of  Russia  has 
ordered  the  Rambler  \.o  be  translated 
into  the  Russian  language,  so  I  shall 
be  read  on  the  banks  of  the  \^^ol^a. 


Horace  boasts  that  his  fame  would 
extend  as  far  as  the  banks  of  the 
Rhone ;  now  the  Wolga  is  farther 
from  me  than  the  Rhone  was  from 
Horace."  Boswell.  "  You  must 
certainly  be  pleased  with  this,  Sir." 
Johnson.  "  I  am  pleased,  Sir,  to  be 
sure.  A  man  is  pleased  to  find  he 
has  succeeded  in  that  which  he  has 
endeavoured  to  do." '    Life,  iv.  276. 

In  this  he  was  mistaken.  Rasselas 
was  translated  into  Russian  in  1795, 
but  the  Rambler  remains  untrans- 
lated,    lb.  vi.  p.  Ixiv. 

Among  the  subscribers  to  Mickle's 
Lusiad  published  in  1776  I  find 
'  Basilius  Nitikin,  Esq.,  Gent,  of 
Russia,  St.  Mary  Hall,  Oxford,  and 
Mr.  Prochore  Suvoroff,  Gent,  of 
Russia,  Queen's  College,  Oxford.' 

Johnson  defines  Factory  as  '  i.  A 
house  or  district  inhabited  by  traders 
in  a  distant  country.  2.  The  traders 
embodied  in  one  place.'  Its  modern 
sense  of  a  manufactory  is  not  given. 
Manufactory  is  not  in  his  Dictionary. 
In  the  Gentle}iian''s  Magazine  for 
1766,  p.  385,  where  mention  is  made 
of  the  British  Factory,  the  town  is 

Grant, 


378 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Ha7iiilton.        [a.d.  i784. 


Grant,  O  Lord,  that  all  who  shall  read  my  pages,  may  become 
more  obedient  to  thy  laws  '  ;  and  when  the  wretched  writer  shall 
appear  before  thee,  extend  thy  mercy  to  him,  for  the  sake  of 
Jesus  Christ.     Amen.  j  ^^^  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

■Sam:  Johnson. 

932. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  February  ii,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  259. 

933. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Hamilton  ^ 
Sir,  Bolt  Court,  Feb.  11,  1784. 

My  physicians  endeavour  to  make  me  believe  that  I  shall 
sometime  be  better  qualified  to  receive  visits  from  men  of  ele- 
gance and  civility  like  yours. 

Mrs.  Pelle  shall  wait  upon  you,  and  you  will  judge  what  will 
be  proper  for  you  to  do.     I  once  more  return  you  my  thanks, 

^"^  ^"^'  Sir,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

934. 

Madam,  To  Mrs.  Rogers  3. 

A  very  dangerous  and  enervaiting  \sic\  distemper  admonishes 
me  to  make  my  will.     One  of  my  cares  is  for  poor  Phebe  Heme, 


called,  as  Johnson  calls  it,  Peters- 
burg and  not  St.  Petersburg.  See 
also  ib.,  p.  337. 

'  In  his  last  Rambler  he  says  : — 
'  It  has  been  my  principal  design  to 
inculcate  wisdom  or  piety.  ...  I 
shall  never  envy  the  honours  which 
wit  and  learning  obtain  in  any  other 
cause,  if  I  can  be  numbered  among 
the  writers  who  have  given  ardour  to 
virtue  and  confidence  to  truth.' 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 


well, page  758.  For  Dr.  Hamilton 
see  ante,  ii.  296. 

^  First  published  in  Notes  and 
Queries,  4th  S.  v.  442.  Compared  by 
me  with  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Rev.  Edward  B.  Edgell,  of 
Bromham  Rectory,  Chippenham. 

See  afite,  ii.  194,  206,  for  Johnson's 
Letters  to  Mrs.  [Miss]  Prowse,  who 
had  subsequently  married  the  Rev. 
J.  M.  Rogers,  about  Phebe  or  Eliza- 
beth Heme,  a  lunatic. 

to 


Aetat.  74. J  To    MtS,    RogCTS.  379 

to  whom  your  worthy  Mother  left  so  kind  a  legacy.  When  I  am 
gone  who  shall  pay  the  rest  of  her  maintenance  ?  I  have  not 
much  to  leave,  but  if  you,  Madam,  will  be  pleased  to  undertake 
it,  I  can  leave  you  an  hundred  pounds.  But  I  am  afraid  that  is 
hardly  an  equivalent,  for  my  part  has  commonly  amounted  to 
twelve  pounds  or  more.  The  payment  to  the  house  is  eight 
shilling  \sic\  a  week,  and  some  cloaths  \sic\  must  be  had  how- 
ever few  or  coarse. 

Be  pleased.  Madam,  to  let  me  know  your  resolution  on  my 
proposal,  and  write  soon,  for  the  time  may  be  very  short '. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Bolt  Court,  Fleet  Street,  Feb.  17,  1784. 

935. 

To  Mrs.  Porter. 
[London],  February  23,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  261. 

936. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  February  27,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  261. 

'  This  letter  shows  by  the  hand-  \sic\  of  ^23,  instead  of  that  we  now 

writing  how  ill  Johnson  was.     He  did  pay  her  which  will  make  a  certain 

not  complete  his  will  till  December  provision  to  her  in  case  of  accident 

8,  five  days  before  his  death.     Mrs.  to  us.     I  name  him  instead  of  myself 

Rogers  sent  the  following  answer : —  as  all  I  am  entitled  to  of  course  is 


^a 


'Sir,  —  I    received    your    Letter  his,  and  every  business  more  easily 

yesterday  with  the  most  sincere  con-  settled   by  him  \sic\.     In    case  you 

cam,  I  hope  it  will  please  God  yet  to  should  approve  of  this  to  save  time 

prolong  a  Life   so   valuable   to   the  and  trouble,  the  necessary  descrip- 

publick  as   well  as  to  your  private  tion  will  be  the  Revd.  John  Methuen 

Friends  ;  in  the  mean  time  your  kind  Rogers  of  Berkley,  Somerset.     I  beg 

and  generous  desire  to  provide  for  leave  to  add  our  good  wishes  and  to 

those  that  mustexperience  such  a  loss,  subscribe  myself  Sir, 

ought  I  am  sure  to  be  complyed  \sic\  '  Your  faithful  and 

with  and  Mr.  Rogers  desires  me  to  *  Obedient  Servant, 

inform  you  that  he  will  accept  of  the  '  Mary  Rogers.' 

hundred  pounds,  and  will  so  far  be  Endorsed  :  — 

answerable  for  Mrs.  Hearne's  main-  '  Dr.    Johnson's    Letter    and    my 

tenance  as  to  secure  to  her  an  annuitty  answer.     February  1 784. ' 

To 


380  To  Mrs.    Thrale.  [a.d.  i784. 

837. 

To  James  Boswell. 
[London],  March  2,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  262. 

938. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Madam,  London,  March  10,  1784. 

You  know  I  never  thought  confidence  with  respect  to 
futurity  any  part  of  the  character  of  a  brave,  a  wise,  or  a  good 
man.  Bravery  has  no  place  where  it  can  avail  nothing  ;  wisdom 
impresses  strongly  the  consciousness  of  those  faults,  of  which  it 
is  itself  perhaps  an  aggravation  ;  and  goodness,  always  wishing 
to  be  better,  and  imputing  every  deficience  to  criminal  negligence, 
and  every  fault  to  voluntary  corruption,  never  dares  to  suppose 
the  condition  of  forgiveness  fulfilled,  nor  what  is  wanting  in  the 
crime  supplied  by  penitence. 

This  is  the  state  of  the  best,  but  what  must  be  the  condition 
of  him  whose  heart  will  not  suffer  him  to  rank  himself  among 
the  best,  or  among  the  good  ?  Such  must  be  his  dread  of  the 
approaching  trial,  as  will  leave  him  little  attention  to  the  opinion 
of  those  whom  he  is  leaving  for  ever ;  and  the  serenity  that  is 
not  felt,  it  can  be  no  virtue  to  feign  ^. 

The  sarcocele  ran  off  long  ago,  at  an  orifice  made  for  mere 
experiment. 

The  water  passed  naturally,  by  God's  mercy,  in  a  manner 
of  which  Dr.  Heberden   has   seen  but   few    examples-^.      The 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  350.  Life,   iv.    395.     Hawkins    says   that 

Mrs.  Thrale  wrote  to  Miss  Burney  calling  on  Johnson  about  this  time 

on  February  18  : — 'Johnson  is  in  a  he  'found  him  labouring  under  great 

sad  way  doubtless  ;  yet  he  may  still  dejection  of  mind.     With  a  look  that 

with  care  last  another  twelvemonth,  cut  me  to  the  heart  he  told  me  that 

and  every  week's  existence  is  gain  to  he  had  the  prospect  of  death  before 

him  who,  like  good  Hezekiah,  wearies  him,  and  that  he  dreaded  to  meet 

Heaven  with  entreaties   for  life.     I       his  Saviour He  uttered  this 

wrote  him  a  very  serious  letter  the  passionate    exclamation  : — "  Shall   I 

other  day.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  who  have  been  a  teacher  of  others 

ii.  305.     She  had  much  better  have  myself  be  a  castaway  ?"  '  Hawkins's 

gone  and  '  exchanged  confidence  by  Johnson,  p.  564. 

the  fireside  '  with  him.  ^  Boswell,  who  came  up  to  London 

^  Boswell     quotes    this    passage.  early  in  May,  writes:  — '  One  morning 

chirurgeon 


Aetat.  74.]  To    MrS.    PortCT.  38 1 

chirurgeon  '  has  been  employed  to  heal  some  excoriations  ;  and 
four  out  of  five  are  no  longer  under  his  cure.  The  physician  laid 
on  a  blister,  and  I  ordered,  by  their  consent,  a  salve  ;  but  neither 
succeeded,  and  neither  was  very  easily  healed. 

I  have  been  confined  from  the  fourteenth  of  December,  and 
know  not  when  I  shall  get  out ;  but  I  have  this  day  dressed  me, 
as  I  was  dressed  in  health. 

Your  kind  expressions  gave  me  great  pleasure ;  do  not  reject 
me  from  your  thoughts.  Shall  we  ever  exchange  confidence  by 
the  fireside  again  ^  ? 

I  hope  dear  Sophy  is  better ;  and  intend  quickly  to  pay  my 

debt  to  Susy.  -,  -^^  a 

^  1  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

939. 

To  Mrs.  Porter  ^. 

My  dearest  Love,  Bolt-coun,  loth  March,  1784. 

I  will  not  suppose  that  it  is  for  want  of  kindness  that  you 

did  not  answer  my  last  letter ;  and  I  therefore  write  again  to 

tell  you  that  I  have,  by  God's  great  mercy,  still  continued  to 

grow  better.    My  asthma  is  seldom  troublesome,  and  my  dropsy 

when  I  found    him   alone,  he  com-  that  on  that  day   '  he  had  ordered 

municated     to     me,     with     solemn  Frank  not  to  admit  any  one  to  him, 

earnestness,  a  very  remarkable  cir-  and,  the  better  to  enforce  the  charge, 

cumstance  which  had   happened  in  had  added  these  awful  words  : — "For 

the  course  of  his  illness,  when  he  was  your  master  is  preparing  himself  to 

much  distressed  by  the  dropsy.     He  die.'"    Y{^.^V\x^€ ?,  Johnson,  p.  565. 

had  shut  himself  up,  and  employed  '  Ante,  ii.  i,  n.  4. 

a  day  in  particular  exercises  of  re-  ^  A  few   days    later   Mrs.  Thrale 

ligion,  —  fasting,    humiliation,    and  wrote  from  Bath  to  Miss  Burney  :  — 

prayer.     On  a  sudden  he  obtained  '  My  going  to  London  would  be  a 

extraordinary   relief,    for   which   he  dreadful   expense,    and   bring   on  a 

looked  up  to  Heaven  with  grateful  thousand    inquiries    and    inconveni- 

devotion.     He   made   no   direct  in-  ences — visits  to   Johnson   and  from 

ference  from  this  fact ;  but  from  his  Cator  [one  of  Mr.  Thrale's  executors]; 

manner  of  telling  it,  I  could  perceive  and  where  must  I  live  for  the  time 

that  it  appeared  to  him  as  something  too?'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  307. 

more  than  an  incident  in  the  common  ^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 

course     of    events.'      Life,   iv.    271.  well,  page  749. 
Hawkins  says  that  Johnson  told  him 

has 


382  To  Mrs.   Gastrell  and  Miss  Aston,     [a.d.  i784. 

has  ran  itself  almost  away,  in  a  manner  which  my  physician  says 
is  very  uncommon. 

I  have  been  confined  from  the  14th  of  December,  and  shall  not 
soon  venture  abroad  ;  but  I  have  this  day  dressed  myself  as  I 
was  before  my  sickness. 

If  it  be  inconvenient  to  you  to  write,  desire  Mr.  Pearson  to 
let  me  know  how  you  do,  and  how  you  have  passed  this  long 
winter.  I  am  now  not  without  hopes  that  we  shall  once  more 
see  one  another. 

Make  my  compliments  to  Mrs.  Cobb  and  Miss  Adey,  and  to 
all  my  friends,  particularly  to  Mr.  Pearson. 

I  am,  my  dear. 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

840. 

To  Mrs.  Gastrell  and  Miss  Aston  \ 

Dear  Ladies, 

The  kind  and  speedy  answer  with  which  you  favoured  me 
to  my  last  letter,  encourages  me  to  hope,  that  you  will  be  glad 
to  hear  again  that  my  recovery  advances.  My  Disorders  are  an 
Asthma  and  Dropsy.  The  Asthma  gives  me  no  great  trouble 
when  I  am  not  in  motion,  and  the  water  of  the  dropsy  has  passed 
away  in  so  happy  a  manner,  by  the  Goodness  of  God,  as  Dr. 
Heberden  declares  himself  not  to  have  known  more  than  four 
times  in  all  his  practice.  I  have  been  confined  to  the  house 
from  December  the  fourteenth,  and  shall  not  venture  out  till  the 
weather  is  settled,  but  I  have  this  day  dressed  myself  as  before 
I  became  ill.  Join  with  me  in  returning  thanks,  and  pray  for  me 
that  the  time  now  granted  me  may  not  be  ill  spent. 

Let  me  now,  dear  Ladies,  have  some  account  of  you.    Tell  me 
how  the  \sic\  You,  have  endured  this  long  and  sharp  winter^,  and 

'  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos-  many  places  even  into  the  farm-yards, 

well^    page  750.      Corrected  by  me  where  they  have  done  much  mischief, 

from     the     original     in     Pembroke  The  northern  seas  too,  if  the  reports 

College  Library.  from    Brest   be   true,  have   felt    the 

^  In  the  GentletnatCs  Magazme  for  unusual  rigour  of  the   season.     Be- 

1784,  p.  306,  under  date  of  March  16  tween    Quimperley   and   Lauvau   33 

it   is    stated    that    in    France    'the  whales  have  been  taken.' 
weather   has    driven   the  wolves  in 

gives 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mts.   Thvale.  383 

gives  [jzV]  me  hopes  that  we  may  all  meet  again  with  kindness 
and  cheerfulness. 

I  am, 

Dear  Ladies, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

March  11,  1784. 

941. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^ 

Dear   Madam,  London,  March  16,  1784. 

I  am  so  near  to  health,  as  a  month  ago  I  despaired  of  being. 
The  dropsy  is  almost  wholly  run  away,  and  the  asthma,  unless 
irritated  by  cold,  seldom  attacks  me.  How  I  shall  bear  motion 
I  do  not  yet  know.  But  though  I  have  little  of  pain,  I  am 
wonderfully  weak.  My  muscles  have  almost  lost  all  their 
spring ;  but  I  hope  that  warm  weather,  when  it  comes,  will  re- 
store me.  More  than  three  months  have  I  now  been  confined. 
But  my  deliverance  has  been  very  extraordinary. 

Of  one  thing  very  remarkable  I  will  tell  you.  For  the  asthma, 
and  perhaps  other  disorders,  my  physicians  have  advised  the 
frequent  use  of  opiates.  I  resisted  them  as  much  as  I  could  ;  and 
complained  that  it  made  me  almost  delirious.  This  Dr.  Heberden 
seemed  not  much  to  heed ;  but  I  was  so  weary  of  it,  that  I  tried, 
when  I  could  not  wholly  omit  it,  to  diminish  the  dose,  in  which, 
contrarily  to  the  known  custom  of  the  takers  of  opium,  and 
beyond  what  it  seemed  reasonable  to  expect,  I  have  so  far 
succeeded,  that  having  begun  with  three  grains,  a  large  quantity, 
I  now  appease  the  paroxysm  with  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  dia- 
codium  ^,  estimated  an  equivalent  only  to  half  a  grain  ;  and  this 
quantity  it  is  now  eight  days  since  I  took. 

That  I  may  send  to  Mrs.  Lewis  ^,  for  when  I  shall  venture  out 
I  do  not  know,  you  must  let  me  know  where  she  may  be  found, 
which  you  omitted  to  tell  me. 

I  hope  my  dear  Sophy  will  go  on  recovering.     But  methinks 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  352.  Dean  of  Ossory,  who  married  one  of 

^  'The  syrup  of  poppies.'     John-      Johnson's  friends.  Miss  Cotterel.  ^«/£ 
son's  Dictionary.  ii.  310,  n.  i,  and/^J-/",  p.  393. 

^  The  wife  or  widow  of  John  Lewis, 

Miss 


384  To  Mrs.    Thrale.  [a.d.  1784. 

Miss  Thrale  rather  neglects  me ;  suppose  she  should  try  to  write 
me  a  little  Latin  letter. 

Do  you  however  write  to  me  often,  and  write  kindly ;  perhaps 
we  may  sometime  see  each  other. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

942. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  March  18,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  264. 

943. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Madam  London,  March  20,  1784. 

Your  last  letter  had  something  of  tenderness.  The  accounts 
which  you  have  had  of  my  danger  and  distress  were  I  suppose 
not  aggravated.  I  have  been  confined  ten  weeks  with  an  asthma 
and  dropsy.  But  I  am  now  better.  God  has  in  his  mercy 
granted  me  a  reprieve  ;  for  how  much  time  his  mercy  must 
determine. 

On  the  1 9th  of  last  month  I  evacuated  twenty  pints  of  water, 
and  I  think  I  reckon  exactly;  from  that  time  the  tumour  has 
subsided,  and  I  now  begin  to  move  with  some  freedom.  You 
will  easily  believe  that  I  am  still  at  a  great  distance  from  health  ; 
but  I  am,  as  my  chirurgeon  expressed  it,  amazingly  better. 
Heberden  seems  to  have  great  hopes. 

Write  to  me  no  more  about  dying  with  a  grace  ;  when  you 
feel  what  I  have  felt  in  approaching  eternity — in  fear  of  soon 
hearing  the  sentence  of  which  there  is  no  revocation,  you  will 
know  the  folly  -  ;  my  wish  is,  that  you  may  know  it  sooner. 
The  distance  between  the  grave  and  the  remotest  point  of  human 
longevity,  is  but  a  very  little  ;  and  of  that  little  no  path  is  certain. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  354.  every  minute  may  divide,  can  cast  his 

-  '  If  he  who  considers  himself  as  eyes  round  him  without  shuddering 

suspended  over  the  abyss  of  eternal  with  horror,  or  panting  for  security  ; 

perdition  only  by  the  thread  of  life,  what  can  he  judge  of  himself,  but  that 

which    must  soon   part   by  its    own  he  is  not  yet  awakened  to  sufficient 

weakness,    and  which    the   wing    of  conviction ?&c.'  The Ra7nblc}-,'^o.\\o. 

You 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Miss  Susy   Thrale. 


85 


You  knew  all  this,  and  I  thought  that  I  knew  it  too ;  but 
I  know  it  now  with  a  new  conviction '.  May  that  new  con- 
viction not  be  vain  ! 

I  am  now  cheerful ;  I  hope  this  approach  to  recovery  is  a 
token  of  the  Divine  mercy.  My  friends  continue  their  kindness. 
I  give  a  dinner  to-morrow. 

Pray  let  me  know  how  my  dear  Sophy  goes  on.  I  still  hope 
that  there  is  in  her  fits^  more  terrour  than  danger.  But  I  hope, 
however  it  be,  that  she  will  speedily  recover.  I  will  take  care 
to  pay  Miss  Susy  her  letter.     God  bless  you  all. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

944. 

To  Miss  Susy  Thrale  ^. 

My  dearest  Miss  Susy,  London,  Mar.  25,  1784. 

Since  you  are  resolved  to  stand  it  out,  and  keep  nmm  till 
you  have  heard  from  me,  I  must  at  last  comply;  and  indeed 
compliance  costs  me  now  no  trouble,  but  as  it  irritates  a  cough, 
which  I  got,  as  you  might  have  done,  by  standing  at  an  open 
window  * ;  and  which  has  now  harassed  me  many  days,  and  is  too 
strong  for  diacodium,  nor  has  yet  given  much  way  to  opium  itself. 
However,  having  been  so  long  used  to  so  many  worse  things,  I 
mind  it  but  little.  I  have  not  bad  nights  ;  and  my  stomach 
has  never  failed  me.  But  when  I  shall  go  abroad  again,  I  know 
not. 

With  Mr.  Herschel  it  will  certainly  be  very  right  to  cultivate 


'  Cowper,  whose  mind  took  a 
deeper  gloom  from  religion  than  even 
Johnson's,  wrote  on  May  10  to  the 
Rev.  John  Newton  : — '  We  rejoice 
in  the  account  you  give  us  of  Dr. 
Johnson.  His  conversion  will  indeed 
be  a  singularproofof  theomnipotence 
of  Grace  ;  and  the  more  singular,  the 
more  decided.'  Southey's  Cowper, 
XV.  150. 

-  She  was  hysterical.  Aiite,  ii. 
360-1. 

VOL.  IL  C  C 


^  Piozzi  Letfet's,  ii.  356. 

"  Boswell,  writing  of  Johnson's 
'  particularities  '  eleven  years  earlier, 
says  : — '  He  sets  open  a  window  in  the 
coldest  day  or  night,  and  stands  be- 
fore it.  It  may  do  with  his  consti- 
tution ;  but  most  people,  amongst 
whom  I  am  one,  would  say,  with  the 
frogs  in  the  fable,  "  This  may  be 
sport  to  you  ;  but  it  is  death  to  us."  ' 
Lz/e,  v.  306. 


an 


386 


To  Miss  Susy   Thrale. 


[A.D.  1784, 


an  acquaintance  ;  for  he  can  show  you  in  the  sky  what  no  man 
before  him  has  ever  seen,  by  some  wonderful  improvements 
which  he  has  made  in  the  telescope '.  What  he  has  to  show  is 
indeed  a  long  way  off,  and  perhaps  concerns  us  but  little ; 
but  all  truth  is  valuable,  and  all  knowledge  is  pleasing  in 
its  first  effects,  and  may  be  subsequently  useful.  Of  whatever 
we  see  we  always  wish  to  know  ;  always  congratulate  ourselves 
when  we  know  that  of  which  we  perceive  another  to  be  ignorant. 
Take  therefore  all  opportunities  of  learning  that  offer  themselves, 
however  remote  the  matter  may  be  from  common  life  or  common 
conversation''.  Look  in  Herschel's  telescope;  go  into  a  chy- 
mist's  laboratory;  if  you  see  a  manufacturer  at  work,  remark 
his  operations.  By  this  activity  of  attention,  you  will  find  in 
every  place  diversion  and  improvement  ■^. 

Now  dear  Sophy  is  got  well,  what  is  it  that  ails  my  mistress  ? 
She  complains,  and  complains,  I  am  afraid,  with  too  much  cause  ; 
but  I  know  not  distinctly  what  is  her  disorder  *.  I  hope  that 
time  and  a  quiet  mind  will  restore  her. 

I  am,  my  dearest, 
Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  July  4, 
1785  : — '  Mr.  Herschel  has  discovered 
that  the  Milky  Way  is  not  only  a 
mob  of  stars,  but  that  there  is  another 
dairy  of  them  still  farther  off,  whence 
I  conclude  comets  are  nothing  but 
pails  returning  from  milking,  instead 
of  balloons  filled  with  inflammable 
air,  which  must  by  this  time  have 
made  terrible  havoc  in  such  thickets 
of  worlds,  if  at  all  dangerous.'  Letters, 
viii.  569.  Miss  Burney,  who  met 
Herschel  in  1786,  says: — 'He  has 
not  more  fame  to  awaken  curiosity 
than  sense  and  modesty  to  gratify  it. 
.  .  .  He  has  discovered  1,500  uni- 
verses.' Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  iii. 
129,  262. 

*  *  It  is  evident  that  the  earliest 
searchers  after  knowledge  must  have 
proposed   knowledge    only   as   their 


reward,  and  that  science,  though 
perhaps  the  nursling  of  interest,  was 
the  daughter  of  curiosity.'  The 
Ra?nb/er,  No.  103.  '  Sir,'  (said  Dr. 
Johnson)  'a  desire  of  knowledge  is 
the  natural  feeling  of  mankind  ;  and 
every  human  being,  whose  mind  is 
not  debauched,  will  be  willing  to  give 
all  that  he  has  to  get  knowledge.' 
Life,  i.  458. 

■^  '  I  have  enlarged  my  notions,'  he 
recorded,  after  seeing  some  iron  and 
copper-works.  Life,  v.  442.  In  look- 
ing over  the  silk-mill  at  Derby  he 
taught  Boswell  '  not  to  think  with  a 
dejected  indifference  of  the  works  of 
art.'     LO.  iii.  164. 

"*  Miss  Burney  wrote  in  the  previous 
November  : — '  Dr.  Pepys  had  a  long 
private  conference  with  me  concern- 
ing Mrs.  Thrale,  with  whose  real  state 

To 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  John  Nichols. 


87 


945. 

To  Bennet  Langton. 
[London],  March  27,  1784.     Published  in  X\\q.  Life,  iv.  267. 

946. 

To  James  Boswell. 
London,  March  30,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  265. 

947. 
To  OziAS  Humphry. 
[London],  April  5,  1784.      Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  268. 

948. 

To  Bennet  Langton. 
April  8,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  267. 

949. 
To  OziAS  Humphry. 
[London],  April  10,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  269. 

950. 

To  ToHN  Nichols  '.  .     .,         ^r, 

Sir,  ^  April  12,  1784. 

I  have  sent  you  inclosed  a  very  curious  proposal  from  Mr. 

Hawkins,  the  son  of  Sir  John  Hawkins,  who,  I  believe,  will  take 


of  health  he  is  better  acquainted  than 
any  body,  and  sad  indeed  was  all  that 
he  said.  ...  I  am  sorry  not  to  be  more 
explicit.  I  can  only  now  tell  you  that 
I  love  Mrs.  Thrale  with  a  never-to- 
cease  afifection,  and  pity  her  more 
than  ever  I  pitied  any  human  being  ; 
and,  if  I  did  not  blame  her,  I  could, 
1  should,  I  believe,  almost  die  for 
her.'  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  284. 
Mrs.  Piozzi,  writing  of  this  time, 
says  :— '  Insults  at  home,  and  spiteful 
expressions  in  every  letter  from  the 
guardians    broke    my    spirits    quite 

C 


down  ;  and  letters  from  my  grieving 
lover,  when  they  did  come,  helped  to 
render  my  life  miserable.'  Hayward's 
Piossi,  i.  276.  Those  who  were  'at 
home '  were  her  daughters,  and 
among  her  guardians  was  Johnson, 
in  whose  letters  not  a  single  '  spiteful 
expression  '  has  been  seen. 

^  First  published  in  Nichols's 
Literary  Anecdotes,  ix.  35. 

The  work  which  John  Sidney 
Hawkins  proposed  to  edit  was 
George  Ruggle's  Ignoramus.  '  He 
has  been   fortunate  enough,'  writes 

c  2  care 


o 


88  To  Mrs.  Tkrale.  [a.d.  1784. 


care  that  whatever  his  son  promises  shall  be  performed.  If  you 
are  inclined  to  publish  this  compilation,  the  editor  will  agree  for 
an  edition  on  the  following  terms,  which  I  think  liberal  enough. 
That  you  shall  print  the  book  at  your  own  charge.  That  the 
sale  shall  be  wholly  for  your  benefit  till  your  expenses  are  repaid  ; 
except  that  at  the  time  of  publication  you  shall  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  editor,  without  price,  .  .  .  copies  for  his  friends. 
That,  when  you  have  been  repaid,  the  profits  arising  from  the 
sale  of  the  remaining  copies  shall  be  divided  equally  between 
you  and  the  editor.  That  the  edition  shall  not  comprise  fewer 
than  five  hundred. 

I  am.  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

951. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor. 
London,  April  12,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  270. 

952. 

To  Bennet  Langton. 
[London],  April  13,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  268. 

953. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale\ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  April  15,  1784. 

Yesterday  I  had  the  pleasure  of  giving  another  dinner  to 

the  remainder  of  the  old  club  ^.     We  used  to  meet  weekly  about 

the  year  fifty,  and  we  were  as  cheerful  as  in  former  times ;  only 

I  could  not  make  quite  so  much  noise  ;  for  since  the  paralytick 

affliction,  my  voice  is  sometimes  weak. 

Metcalf  and  Crutchley,  without  knowing  each  other,  are  both 

Dr.  Lort, 'to  be  in  possession  of  the  Hist.,  vii.  473.  His  edition  was 
Italian  play  of  liaptista  Porta,  whence  published  in  1787. 
Ruggle  is  said  to  have  borrowed  his  '  Piozzi  Letters,  ii,  361. 
design,  and  which  was  Ruggle's  own  -  Ante,  ii.  364.  '  We  were,'  says 
copy.  Farmer  hunted  this  out  among  Hawkins,  'very  cheerfully  enter- 
some  literary  lumber  thrown  aside  in  tained  by  him.'  \{2:^\ivn.€%  Johnson, 
Clare  Hall  Library.'     Nichols's  Lit.  p.  563. 

members 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Ah's.  Tlirale. 


89 


members  of  parliament  for  Horsham  in  Sussex.  Mr.  Cator  is 
chosen  for  Ipswich '. 

But  a  sick  man's  thoughts  soon  turn  back  upon  himself.  I 
am  still  very  weak,  though  my  appetite  is  keen,  and  my  digestion 
potent  ;  and  I  gratify  myself  more  at  table  than  ever  I  did  at 
my  own  cost  before.  I  have  now  an  inclination  to  luxury  which 
even  your  table  did  not  excite ;  for  till  now  my  talk  was  more 
about  the  dishes  than  my  thoughts.  I  remember  you  com- 
mended me  for  seeming  pleased  with  my  dinners  when  you  had 
reduced  your  table ;  I  am  able  to  tell  you  with  great  veracity, 
that  I  never  knew  when  the  reduction  began,  nor  should  have 
known  that  it  was  made,  had  not  you  told  me.  I  now  think 
and  consult  to-day  what  I  shall  eat  to-morrow.  This  disease 
likewise  will  I  hope  be  cured  ^.  For  there  are  other  things,  how 
different !  which  ought  to  predominate  in  the  mind  of  such  a 
man  as  I  :  but  in  this  world  the  body  will  have  its  part ;  and  my 
hope  is,  that  it  shall  have  no  more.  My  hope  but  not  my  con- 
fidence ;  I  have  only  the  timidity  of  a  Christian  to  determine, 
not  the  wisdom  of  a  Stoick  to  secure  me. 

I  hope  all  my  dears  are  well.     They  should  not  be  too  nice 

in  requiring  letters.     If  my  sweet  Oueeney  writes  more  letters 

like  her  last,  when  franks  come  in  again  I  will  correct  them  and 

return  them  ^ 

I  am.  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


'  For  Metcalfe  see  rt;«/^,  ii.  345,  and 
for  Crutchley,  ii.  12S,  11.  4.  Cator  was 
declared  'not  duly  elected.'  Pari. 
Hist.,  xxiv.  789. 

=  Boswell  dined  with  Johnson  a 
few  weeks  later  at  General  Paoli's. 
'  There  was  a  variety  of  dishes  much 
to  his  taste,  of  all  which  he  seemed  to 
me  to  eat  so  much,  that  I  was  afraid 
he  might  be  hurt  by  it  ;  and  I 
whispered  to  the  General  my  fear, 
and  begged  he  might  not  press  him. 
"  Alas  !  (said  the  General),  see  how 
very  ill  he  looks ;  he  can  live  but  a 
very  short  time.     Would  you  refuse 


any  slight  gratifications  to  a  man 
under  sentence  of  death  ?  There  is  a 
humane  custom  in  Italy,  by  which 
persons  in  that  melancholy  situation 
are  indulged  with  having  whatever 
they  like  best  to  eat  and  drink,  evxn 
with  expensive  delicacies." '  Life, 
iv.  330.  Beattie,  who  dined  with  him 
about  the  same  time,  said  : — '  I  verily 
believe  that  on  Sunday  last  he  ate  as 
much  to  dinner  as  I  have  done  in  all 
for  these  ten  days  past.'  Life  of 
Beattie,  ed.  1824,  p.  316. 

^  There  were  no  franks  for  there 
was  no  Parliament.     The  old  one  had 

To 


390 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1784. 


954. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  \ 

Dear   Madam,  London,  April  19,  1784. 

I  received  in  the  morning  your  magnificent  fish,  and  in  the 
afternoon  your  apology  for  not  sending  it.  I  have  invited  the 
Hooles  and  Miss  Burney  to  dine  upon  it  to-morrow. 

The  club  which  has  been  lately  instituted  is  at  Sam's  ^ ;  and 
there  was  I  when  I  was  last  out  of  the  house.  But  the  people 
whom  I  mentioned  in  my  letter  are  the  remnant  of  a  little  club 
that  used  to  meet  in  Ivy  Lane  about  three-and-thirty  years  ago, 
out  of  which  we  have  lost  Hawkesworth  and  Dyer,  the  rest  are 
yet  on  this  side  the  grave  ^.  Our  meetings  now  are  serious,  and 
I  think  on  all  parts  tender. 

Miss  Moore  has  written  a  poem  called  Le  Bas  Bleu  ;  which  is 
in  my  opinion  a  very  great  performance  ^  It  wanders  about  in 
manuscript,  and  surely  will  soon  find  its  way  to  Bath. 

I  shall  be  glad  of  another  letter  from  my  dear  Queeney;  the 
former  was  not  much  to  be  censured.  The  reckoning  between 
me  and  Miss  Sophy  is  out  of  my  head.  She  must  write  to  tell 
me  how  it  stands. 


been  dissolved  on  March  25  ;  the 
new  one  met  on  May  18.  Pari.  Hist., 
xxiv.  775.  Queeney  probably  had 
written  in  Latin  as  he  had  suggested, 
ante,  ii.  384. 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  363. 

^  The  Club  met  at  the  Essex  Head, 
'  kept  by  Samuel  Greaves,  an  old 
servant  of  Mr.  Thrale's.'  Life,  iv. 
253,  and  ante,  ii.  367.  'Your  friend 
Sam,'  Susan  Burney  called  him, 
writing  to  Miss  Burney.  Early 
Diary  of  Frances  Burney,  ii.  267. 

^  A7ite,  ii.  364,  n.  5. 

*  Hannah  More,  writing  in  this 
month,  said  :  — '  I  cannot  spare  time 
to  write  another  word,  as  I  am  very 
busy  copying  the  Bas  Bleu  for  the 
king  who  desires  to  have  it.  Did  I 
tell  you  I  went  to  see  Dr.  Johnson  ? 
He  said  there  was  no  name  in  poetry 


that  might  not  be  glad  to  own  it. 
You  cannot  imagine  how  I  stared  ; 
all  this  from  Johnson,  that  parsi- 
monious praiser.  I  told  him  I  was 
delighted  at  his  approbation  ;  he 
answered  quite  characteristically:  — 
"  And  so  you  may,  for  I  give  you  the 
opinion  of  a  man  who  does  not  rate 
his  judgment  in  these  things  very 
low,  I  can  tell  you.'"  H.  More's 
Memoirs,  i.  319.  Horace  Walpole 
wrote  to  thank  her  for  '  her  charming 
and  very  genteel  poem.'  I^etters, 
viii.  475.  See  also  Life,  iv.  108.  The 
poem  is  so  little  known  that  I  will 
quote  a  few  lines  as  specimens  : — 
'  Or  how  Aspasia's  parties  shone 
The  first  Bas-bleu  at  Athens  known. 

'Hail,  conversation,  heav'nly  fair, 
Thou  bliss  of  life,  and  balm  of  care  ! 

I  am 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Airs.  Thrale. 


391 


if    *-    ■*    *    * 


I  am  sensible  of  the  ease  that  your  repayment  of  Mr. 
has  given ' ;  you  felt  yourself  gaiee  by  that  debt ;    is  there  an 
English  word  for  it  ? 

As  you  do  not  now  use  your  books,  be  pleased  to  let  Mr. 
Cator  know  that  I  may  borrow  what  I  want.  I  think  at  present 
to  take  only  Calmet  -,  and  the  Greek  Anthology.  When  I  lay 
sleepless,  I  used  to  drive  the  night  along  by  turning  Greek 
epigrams  into  Latin. 

I  know  not  if  I  have  not  turned  a  hundred  ^. 

It  is  time  to  return  you  thanks  for  your  present.  Since  I  was 
sick,  I  know  not  if  I  have  not  had  more  delicacies  sent  me  than 
I  had  ever  seen  till  I  saw  your  table. 

It  was  always  Dr.  Heberden's  enquiry,  whether  my  appetite 
for  food  continued.  It  indeed  never  failed  me ;  for  he  con- 
sidered the  cessation  of  appetite  as  the  despair  of  nature  yielding 
up  her  power  to  the  force  of  the  disease. 

I  am.  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


Call  forth  the  long-forgotten  know- 
ledge 
Of  school,  of  travel,  and  of  college. 
For  thee,  best  solace  of  his  toil, 
The  sage  consumes  his  midnight  oil ; 
And  keeps  late  vigils  to  produce 
Materials  for  thy  future  use.' 

1.  232. 
*         *         *        * 

Then  speaking  of  the  traveller  she 
continues  : — 

'For  this  he  bids  his  home  farewell, 
The  joy  of  seeing  is  to  tell. 
Trust    me,    he    never   would   have 

stirred 
Were  he  forbid  to  speak  a  word  ; 
And  Curiosity  would  sleep. 
If  her  own  secrets  she  must  keep.' 

1.  256. 
'  '  My  uncle's  widow,  Lady  Salus- 
bury,'  writes  Mrs.  Piozzi,  '  had 
threatened  to  seize  upon  my  Welsh 
estate  if  I  did  not  repay  her  money, 
lent  by  Sir  Thomas  Salusbury  to  my 


father This  debt  not  having 

been  cancelled  stood  against  me  as 
heiress.  I  had  been  forced  to  borrow 
from  the  ladies  ;  and  Mr.  Crutchley, 
when  I  signed  my  mortgage  to  them 
for  ^7,000,  said  : — "  Now,  Madam, 
call  your  daughters  in  and  thank 
them  ;  make  them  your  best  curtsey 
(with  a  sneer)  for  keeping  you  out  of 
a  gaol."  He  added  ^500  or  i^8oo 
more,  and  I  paid  that  off  as  alluded 
to  ;  but  Dr.  Johnson  knew  how  I  was 
distressed,  and  you  see  how  even  he 
had  been  writing  !  ! '  Hayward's 
Piozzi,  i.  276. 

-  Probably  Augustin  Cahiiet's  Dic- 
tionary of  the  Bible. 

^  '  During  his  sleepless  nights  he 
amused  himself  by  translating  into 
Latin  verse,  from  the  Greek,  many 
of  the  epigrams  in  the  Anthologia. 
These  translations,  with  some  other 
poems  by  him  in  Latin,  he  gave  to  his 
friend    Mr.    Langton,    who,    having 

To 


)92 


To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1784. 


955. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 

London,  April  21,  1784. 

Dear  Madam, 

I  make  haste  to  send  you  intelligence,  which,  if  I  do  not 
still  flatter  myself,  you  will  not  receive  without  some  degree  of 
pleasure.  After  a  confinement  of  one  hundred  twenty-nine  days, 
more  than  the  third  part  of  a  year,  and  no  inconsiderable  part  of 
human  life,  I  this  day  returned  thanks  to  God  in  St.  Clement's 
church,  for  my  recovery ;  a  recovery,  in  my  seventy-fifth  year, 
from  a  distemper  which  few  in  the  vigour  of  youth  are  known  to 
surmount ;  a  recovery,  of  which  neither  myself,  my  friends,  nor 
my  physicians,  had  any  hope  ;  for  though  they  flattered  me  with 
some  continuance  of  life,  they  never  supposed  that  I  could  cease 
to  be  dropsical.  The  dropsy  however  is  quite  vanished,  and  the 
asthma  so  much  mitigated,  that  I  walked  to-day  with  a  more 
easy  respiration  than  I  have  known,  I  think,  for  perhaps  two 
years  past.  I  hope  the  mercy  that  lengthens  my  days,  will 
assist  me  to  use  them  well. 

The  Hooles,  Miss  Burney,  and  Mrs.  Hall  (Wesley's  sister), 
feasted  yesterday  with  me  very  cheerfully  on  your  noble  salmon^. 
Mr.  Allen  could  not  come,  and  I  sent  him  a  piece,  and  a  great 
tail  is  still  left. 

Dr.  Brocklesby  forbids  the  club  at  present,  not  caring  to  ven- 
ture the  chillness  of  the  evening ;  but  I  purpose  to  shew  myself 
on  Saturday  at  the  Academy's  feast.  I  cannot  publish  my 
return  to  the  world  more  effectually ;  for,  as  the  Frenchman  says, 
tout  le  moiide  sy  trouvera. 

For  this  occasion  I  ordered  some  cloaths  ;  and  was  told  by 
the  taylor,  that  when  he  brought  me  a  sick  dress,  he   never 

added  a  few  notes,  sold  them  to  the  ^  'The  day,'  writes  Miss  Burney, 

booksellers  for  a  small   sum,  to  be  '  was  tolerable  ;  but  Dr.  Johnson  is 

given  to  some  of  Johnson's  relations,  never  his  best  when  there  is  nobody 

which    was   accordingly  done  ;   and  to  draw  him  out  ;  but  he  was  much 

they  are  printed  in  the  collection  of  pleased  with  my  coming,  and   very 

his  works.'   Life,  iv.  384,  and  Works,  kind     indeed.'       Mme.     D'Arblay's 

i.  175.  Diary,  ii.  310. 
'  Fiozzi  Letters,  ii.  365. 

expected 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.  Tlirale. 


393 


expected  to   make  me  any  thing  of  any  other  kind.     My  re- 
covery is  indeed  wonderful. 

I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 


956. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale '. 
Madam,  London,  April  26,  1784. 

On  Saturday  I  shewed  myself  again  to  the  living  world  at 
the  Exhibition;  much  and  splendid  was  the  company:  but  like 
the  Doge  of  Genoa  at  Paris  ^,  I  admired  nothing  but  myself.  I 
went  up  all  the  stairs  to  the  pictures  without  stopping  to  rest  or 
to  breathC;, 

'  In  all  the  madness  of  superfluous  health  ^.' 

The  Prince  of  Wales  had  promised  to  be  there ;  but  when  we 
had  waited  an  hour  and  half,  sent  us  word  that  he  could  not 
come  1 

My  cough  still  torments  me  ;  but  it  is  only  a  cough,  and  much 
less  oppressive  than  some  of  former  times,  but  it  disturbs  my 
nights. 

Mrs.  Davenant  called  to  pay  me  a  guinea,  but  I  gave  two  for 
you.  Whatever  reasons  you  have  for  frugality,  it  is  not  worth 
while  to  save  a  guinea  a-year  by  withdrawing  it  from  a  public 
charity. 

I  know  not  whether  I  told  you  that  my  old  friend  Mrs.  Cot- 
terel,  now  no  longer  Miss,  has  called  to  see  me.  Mrs.  Lewis  is 
not  well  ^ 

Mrs.  Davenant  says,  that  you  regain  your  health.  That  you 
regain  your  health  is  more  than  a  common  recovery;  because  I 


'  Pioszi  Letters,  ii.  367. 

^  At  Versailles.    Ante,  i.  270,  «,  2. 

^  Pope.     Essay  on  Man,  iii.  3. 

**  He  who  was  slowly  to  ripen  into 
the  First  Gentleman  in  Europe  was 
but  twenty-one  when  he  treated  men 
like  Johnson  and  Reynolds  with  this 
insolence.  Reynolds  exhibited  six- 
teen    pictures,    among     them     the 


portraits  of  Fox,  and  Mrs.  Siddons 
as  the  Tragic  Muse.  Leslie  and 
Taylor's  Reynolds,  ii.  436. 

^  Miss  Cotterel,  like  Miss  Carter, 
Miss  Porter,  Miss  Aston,  and 
Miss  Reynolds,  having  reached  a 
certain  age  had  taken  the  title  of 
Mrs.  Mrs.  Lewis  was  her  sister. 
Ante,  ii.  383,  ;/.  3. 

infer, 


394 


To  Mrs.  TJirale. 


[A.D.  17P4. 


infer,  that  you  regain  your  peace  of  mind.  Settle  your  thoughts 
and  controul  your  imagination,  and  think  no  more  of  Hesperian 
felicity.  Gather  yourself  and  your  children  into  a  little  system, 
in  which  each  may  promote  the  ease,  the  safety,  and  the  pleasure 
of  the  rest '. 

Mr.  Howard  called  on  me  a  few  days  ago,  and  gave  [me]  the 
new  edition,  much  enlarged,  of  his  Account  of  Prisons  ^.  He  has 
been  to  survey  the  prisons  on  the  continent ;  and  in  Spain  he 
tried  to  penetrate  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  but  his 
curiosity  was  very  imperfectly  gratified.  At  Madrid  they  shut 
him  quite  out ;  at  Villadolid  they  shewed  him  some  publick 
rooms. 

While  I  am  writing,  the  post  has  brought  your  kind  letter. 
Do  not  think  with  dejection  of  your  own  condition  ;  a  little 
patience  will  probably  give  you  health,  it  will  certainly  give  you 
riches,  and  all  the  accommodations  that  riches  can  procure  ^. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 


'  Mrs.  Piozzi  has  on  this  the  follow- 
ing marginal  note  : — '  Mrs.  Davenant 
neither  knew  nor  cared,  as  she  wanted 
her  brother,  Harry  Cotton,  to  marry 
Lady  Keith  [Queeney,  married  in 
1808  to  Admiral  Lord  Keith],  and  I 
offered  my  estate  with  her.  Miss 
Thrale  said  she  wished  to  have 
nothing  to  do  either  with  my  family 
or  my  fortune.  They  were  all 
cruel  and  all  insulting.'  Hayward's 
Piozzi,  i.  321.  Mme.  D'Arblay,  to 
whom  the  secret  of  Mrs.  Thrale's  at- 
tachment had  been  confided,  says 
that  '  Miss  Thrale's  conduct,  through 
scenes  of  dreadful  difficulty,  notwith- 
standing her  extreme  youth,  was 
even  exemplary.'  Memoirs  of  Dr. 
Burfiey,  ii.  246  . 

""  In  the  Sale  Catalogue  of  John- 
son's Library,  Lot  286  is  Howard's 
State  of  the  Prisons  in  England  and 
Wales,  1784.  The  first  edition  was 
published  in  1777. 


Erasmus  Darwin,  addressing  Be- 
nevolence, tells  how — 
'From  reahn  to  realm,  with  cross  or 

crescent  crown'd, 
Where'er  Mankind  and  Misery  are 

found. 
O'er  burning  sands,  deep  waves,  or 

wilds  of  snow. 
Thy  Howard  journeying  seeks  the 

house  of  woe.' 
The  Botanic  Garden,  vol.  ii,  canto  2, 
1.  439.     Horace  Walpole  speaks    of 
Howard  as  '  the  apostle  of  humanity.' 
Letters,  ix.  177. 

^  For  accommodation  see  ante, 
ii.  367,  n.  5.  Boswell  records  that 
when  they  were  looking  at  Lord 
Scarsdale's  seat  at  Keddlestone  he 
remarked  : — '  "  One  should  think  that 
the  proprietor  of  all  this  niitst  be 
happy."  "  Nay,  Sir,"  said  Johnson  ; 
"  all  this  excludes  but  one  evil — 
poverty."'  Life,  iii.  160.  In  The 
Rambler,  No.  53,  Johnson  says  that 

To 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Miss  Reynolds. 


195 


957. 

To  Mrs.  Porter  '. 
Mv  Dear,  London,  April  26,  1784. 

I  write  to  you  now,  to  tell  3^ou  that  I  am  so  far  recovered 
that  on  the  21st  I  went  to  church  to  return  thanks,  after  a  con- 
finement of  more  than  four  long  months. 

My  recovery  is  such  as  neither  myself  nor  the  physicians  at  all 
expected,  and  is  such  as  that  very  few  examples  have  been 
known  of  the  like.  Join  with  me,  my  dear  love,  in  returning 
thanks  to  God. 

Dr.  Vyse  ^  has  been  with  (me)  this  evening ;  he  tells  me  that 
you  likewise  have  been  much  disordered,  but  that  you  are  now 
better.  I  hope  that  we  shall  some  time  have  a  cheerful  inter- 
view.    In  the  mean  time  let  us  pray  for  one  another- 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  humble  servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

958. 

To  Miss  Reynolds^. 

Dear   Madam,  Bolt-court,  30th  April,  1784. 

Mr.  Allen  **  has  looked  over  the  papers,  and  thinks  that  one 
hundred  copies  will  come  to  five  pounds. 

Fifty  will  cost  4/.  \os.,  and  five  and  twenty  will  cost  4/.  ^s. 
It  seems  therefore  scarcely  worth  while  to  print  fewer  than  a 
hundred. 

Suppose  you  printed  two  hundred  and  fifty  at  6/.  icj-.,  and, 
without  my  name  ^  tried  the  sale,  which  may  be  secretly  done. 
You  would  then  see  the  opinion  of  the  public  without  hazard,  if 


'  wealth  is  chiefly  to  be  valued  as  it 
secures  us  from  poverty  ;  for  it  is 
more  useful  for  defence  than  acquisi- 
tion, and  is  not  so  much  able  to 
procure  good  as  to  exclude  evil.' 

'  First  published  in  Malone's  Bos- 
well. 

^  Ante^  ii.  14. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 


well,  page  753. 

For  Miss  Reynolds's  writings  see 
mtte,  ii.  180,  223,  249. 

"*  Mr.  Allen,  Johnson's  landlord, 
was  a  printer. 

^  I  conjecture  that  Johnson  wrote 
*  without  any  name.'  His  Letter  of 
May  28,  fast,  p.  398,  shows  that  she 
laid  aside  the  thought  of  printing. 

nobody 


96 


To  Mrs.  TIiT-ale. 


[A.D.  1784. 


nobody  knows  but  I.     If  anybody  else  is  in  the  secret,  you  shall 
not  have  my  consent  to  venture. 
I  am,  dear  Madam, 

Your  most  affectionate 

and  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

959. 

To  Miss  Jane  Langton. 
[London],  May  lo,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  271. 

960. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale\ 

Now  I  am  broken  loose,  my  friends  seem  willing  enough  to 
see  me.  On  Monday  I  dined  with  Paradise ;  Tuesday,  Hoole ; 
Wednesday,  Dr.  Taylor ;  to-day,  with  Jodrel ;  Friday,  Mrs. 
Garrick ;  Saturday,  Dr.  Brocklesby;  next  Monday,  Dilly^. 

But  I  do  not  now  drive  the  world  about ;  the  world  drives  or 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  369. 

Johnson  does  not  seem  to  have 
known  that  Mrs.  Thrale  had  spent 
some  days  in  London  early  in  this 
month.  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
ii.  314. 

^  Boswell  dined  with  Johnson  at 
Paradise's  and  at  Joddrel's,  but  was 
too  indolent  to  record  the  talk.  At 
Joddrel's  was  Lord  Monboddo,  '  who 
avoided  any  communication  with  Dr. 
Johnson.'  Life,  iv.  272.  At  Mrs. 
Garrick's  Johnson  met  Fanny  Burney 
and  Hannah  More  (ib.  p.  275)  ;  but 
neither  of  them  gives  any  account  of 
the  evening,  though  Miss  Burney  just 
mentions  it.  Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary, 
ii.  315.  Of  the  dinner  at  Dr. 
Brocklesby's  Boswell  gives  some 
record.  Life,  iv.  273.  Windham 
also  was  there,  who  records  in  his 
Diaty,  p.  9  : — '  After  dinner  took 
Johnson  an  airing  over  Blackfriars 
Bridge,  thence  to  the  Club.'  The 
Club  was  the  Essex-Head  Club, 
where,  says  Windham,  'there  were 


present  Boswell,  Murphy,Brocklesby, 
Berry,  Mr.  Bowles,  Hoole  and  his 
son,  and  a  son  of  Dr.  Burney,  he  that 
was  expelled  from  Cambridge.'  This 
must  have  been  Charles  Burney  the 
Greek  scholar,  who  left  Cambridge 
without  taking  his  degree,  though  the 
degree  of  M.A.  was  conferred  on  him 
about  thirty  years  later.  Porson  told 
how  he  had  once  called  on  Burney  to 
borrow  a  book,  and  not  finding  him 
at  home  carried  it  off.  Burney  soon 
returning,  'pursued  him  in  a  chaise, 
and  recovered  it.  Porson  talked  of 
this  affair  with  some  bitterness. 
"  Did  Burney  suppose,"  he  said, 
"  that  I  meant  to  play  his  old  tricks  ?  " 
(alluding  to  a  well-known  circum- 
stance in  the  earlier  part  of  Burney's 
history).'       Table    Talk   of  Rogers, 

P-3I5- 

Of  the  talk  which  Johnson  had 
that  evening  at  the  Essex-Head 
Club  Boswell  gives  some  account 
{Life,  iv.  275),  and  also  of  the  dinner 
at  Dilly's  on  Monday.     Ib.  p.  278. 

draws 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Miss  Reynolds. 


397 


draws  me  \  I  am  very  weak ;  the  old  distress  of  sleeplessness 
comes  again  upon  me.  I  have  however  one  very  strong  basis 
of  health,  an  eager  appetite  and  strong  digestion. 

Queeney's  letter  I  expected  before  now :  Susy  is  likewise  in 
debt.  I  believe  I  am  in  debt  to  Sophy,  but  the  dear  Loves 
ought  not  to  be  too  rigorous. 

Dr.  Taylor  has  taken  St.  Margaret's,  in  Westminster,  vacant 
by  Dr.  Wilson's  death  ^ :  how  long  he  will  keep  it  I  cannot  guess  : 
it  is  of  no'^reat  value,  and  its  income  consists  much  of  voluntary 
contributions. 

I  am,  Madam, 
,  Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

London,  Thursday,  May  13,  1784. 

You  never  date  fully. 

961. 

Madam,  To  Miss  Reynolds  3.  May  28,  1784. 

You  do  me  wrong  by  imputing  my  omission  to  any  captious 
punctiliousness.     I  have   not  yet    seen    Sir  Joshua,   and,   when 


'  Johnson  perhaps  had  in  mind  a 
line  in  Dryden's  CJiaracter  of  a  Good 
Parson  :  —  '  And  forced  himself  to 
drive,  but  loved  to  draw.'  In  speak- 
ing of  Warburton  he  said  : — '  When 
I  read  Warburton  first  and  observed 
his  force,  and  his  contempt  of  man- 
kind, I  thought  he  had  driven  the 
world  before  him.'   Life,  v.  93. 

""  Ante,  ii.  158.  Dr.  Wilson  was 
also  Rector  of  St.  Stephen's,  Wal- 
brook.  In  this  church  '  he  erected  a 
statue  to  the  celebrated  female 
historian  [Mrs.  Macaulay]  while 
living,  which  was  boarded  up  till  her 
death  by  authority  of  the  Spiritual 
Court.'  Gentle)na7i's  Magazine,  1784, 
i.  317.  In  a  small  party  at  the 
Bishop's  Palace  in  Lichfield  Dr. 
Johnson  was  asked  for  *  his  opinion 


with  respect  to  the  propriety  of  Dr. 
Wilson's  conduct  in  putting  up  this 
statue.  He  did  not  at  first  hear  the 
question  ;  on  its  being  repeated  by 
Miss  Seward  he  replied:  —  "Aye, 
aye ;  poor  foolish  Wilson !  why, 
Madam,  he  was  a  fool  for  doing  it, 
and  she  was  a  fool  for  per[mitting 
it  to  be  done]*."  '  British  Museum, 
Add.  MSS.i\i^\<^.  Horace  Walpole 
speaks  of  Wilson  as  '  Mrs.  Macaulay's 
idolater  —  that  dirty  disappointed 
hunter  of  a  mitre,  Dr.  Wilson.' 
Letters,  vii.  42. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
ivell,  page  757. 

For  Johnson  as  a  negotiator  with 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  on  behalf  of 
Miss  Reynolds  see  a}ite^  ii.  84, 
n.  2. 


The  MS.  is  imperfect. 


I  do 


398  To  Mrs.  Thrale.  [a.d.  1784. 

I  do  see  him,  I  know  not  how  to  serve  you.  When  I  spoke 
upon  your  affairs  to  him,  at  Christmas,  I  received  no  encourage- 
ment to  speak  again. 

But  we  shall  never  do  business  by  letters.     We  must  see  one 
another. 

I  have  returned  your  papers,  and  am  glad  that  you  laid  aside 
the  thought  of  printing  them  '. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

962. 

To  OziAS  Humphry. 
[London],  May  31,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life^  iv.  269. 

963. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 
Dear  Madam,  London,  May  31,  1784. 

Why  you  expected  me  to  be  better  than  I  am  I  cannot 
imagine :  I  am  better  than  any  that  saw  me  in  my  illness  ever 
expected  to  have  seen  me  again.  I  am  however  at  a  great 
distance  from  health,  very  weak  and  very  asthmatick,  and  troubled 
with  my  old  nocturnal  distresses  ;  so  that  I  am  little  asleep  in  the 
night,  and  in  the  day  too  little  awake. 

I  have  one  way  or  other  been  disappointed  hitherto  of  that 
change  of  air,  from  which  I  think  some  relief  may  possibly  be 
obtained ;  but  Boswel  and  I  have  settled  our  resolution  to  go  to 
Oxford  on  Thursday  '.  But  since  I  was  at  Oxford,  my  convivial 
friend  Dr.  Edwards  and  my  learned  friend  Dr.  Wheeler  are  both 
dead  ■*,  and  my  probabilities  of  pleasure  arc  very  much  diminished. 
Why,  when  so  many  arc  taken  away,  have  I  been  yet  spared ! 
I  hope  that  I  may  be  fitter  to  die- 
How  long  we  shall  stay  at  Oxford,  or  what  we  shall  do  when 
we  leave  it,  neither  Bozzy  nor  I  have  yet  settled  ;  he  is  for  his 

'  ^«/^,  ii.  395.  Li/e,\\.  283—311. 

^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  370.  *  For  Edwards  and  Wheeler  see 

^  For  the  Journey  to  Oxford  see      ante,  ii.  257,  260,  327. 

part 


Aetat.  74.]        To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Haviilton. 


399 


part  resolved  to  remove  his  family  to  London  and  try  his  fortune 
at  the  English  bar ' :  let  us  all  wish  him  success. 
Think  of  me,  if  you  can,  with  tenderness. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

964. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[London],  June  [?  i],  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  283. 


965. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Hamilton  ^ 
Sir,  [London],  June  2,  1784. 

You  do  every  thing  that  is  liberal  and  kind.  Mrs.  Pelle  is  a 
bad  manager  for  herself,  but  I  will  employ  a  more  skilful  agent, 
one  Mrs.  Gardiner  ^,  who  will  wait  on  you  and  employ  Pelle's 
money  to  the  best  advantage.  Mrs.  Gardiner  will  wait  on  you. 
I  return  you.  Sir,  sincere  thanks  for  your  attention  to  me.  I 
am  ill,  but  hope  to  come  back  better,  and  to  be  made  better  still 
by  your  conversation. 

I  am.  Sir,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson ^ 

966. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale^. 
Dear   Madam,  London,  June  17,  1784. 

I  returned  last  night  from  Oxford  after  a  fortnight's  abode 


'  Boswell  records  a  conversation 
which  passed  between  him  and  John- 
son at  Oxford  on  this  subject.  Life, 
iv.  309.  See  also  mite,  i.  316.  To 
Bishop  Percy  he  wrote  from  Carlisle 
on  July  8  : — 'I  have  at  length  re- 
solved, with  Dr.  Johnson's  approba- 
tion, to  try  my  fortune  at  the  English 
bar,  a  scheme  of  which  your  Lord- 
ship talked  to  me  in  an  animating 
strain  when  I  was  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  you  at  this  place.'  Nichols's 
Lit.  Hist-,  vii.  303. 


-  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well, page  758. 

For  Dr.  Hamilton  see  ante,  ii. 
296,  2>1^. 

^  Ante,  i.  156,  n.  3. 

""  In  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Co.'s 
Auction  Catalogue  of  May  10,  1875, 
Lot  116  is: — 'Brief  Autographic 
Memoranda  in  Latin  and  English  of 
Dr.Johnson'sfeeIings,&c.,on  theSth, 
9th,  loth  June,  1784.  "  Very  breath- 
less and  dejected,"  on  the  first  date.' 

5  Piozzi  Letters,  ii,  372. 

with 


400 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1784. 


with  Dr.  Adams,  who  treated  me  as  well  as  I  could  expect  or  wish  ; 
and  he  that  contents  a  sick  man,  a  man  whom  it  is  impossible  to 
please,  has  surely  done  his  part  well ' :  I  went  in  the  common 
vehicle  with  very  little  fatigue,  and  came  back  I  think  with  less  '^. 
My  stomach  continues  good,  and  according  to  your  advice  I 
spare  neither  asparagus  nor  peas  -^  and  hope  to  do  good  execution 
upon  all  the  summer  fruits'*.     But  my  nights  are  bad,  very  bad ; 


'  Boswell  quotes  this  passage, 
Life,  iv.  311.  Mr.  John  Coke  Fowler, 
Resident  Magistrate  at  Swansea,  who 
matriculated  at  Pembroke  College  in 
1837,  tells  the  following  anecdote  : — 
'  The  old  porter  who  lived  for  more 
than  fifty  years  after  Dr.  Johnson's 
last  visit  to  Oxford  told  me  that  the 
Doctor  desired  to  mount  the  narrow 
stairs  which  led  to  his  old  rooms. 
He  was  then  very  unwell  and  infirm. 
Consequently  the  porter  went  behind 
him  up  the  stairs,  and  in  a  manner 
hardly  consistent  with  dignity  applied 
his  strength  to  that  ponderous  part 
of  Dr.  Johnson's  frame  which  might 
otherwise  have  brought  him  back- 
wards.' Recollections  of  Public  Men. 
Published   in    The   Red  Dragoti,  p. 

239- 

^  It  was    on  the  way   down   that 

Johnson  scolded  the  waiter   for  the 

roast  mutton  which  was  set  before  the 

passengers  at  dinner.     Ante,  ii.  257, 

?t.  3.      His  conversation  in  the  coach 

charmed   his   fellow-travellers,  'two 

very  agreeable  ladies  from  America. 

"How  he  does  talk!"  one  of  them 

said  to  me  aside   (writes  Boswell) ; 

"  Every  sentence  is  an  essay."  '    Life, 

iv.  284. 

^  Johnson   dined   one  day  at   the 

house  of  \V.  J.  Mickle,  the  translator 

of  the  Lusiad,  who  lived  at  Wheatley, 

'a  very  pretty  country  place,  a  few 

miles  from  Oxford.'    Life,  iv.  308.    I 

am    informed    that    '  it    is    handed 

down  as  a  tradition  among  Mickle's 

descendants    that    at     this     dinner 

Johnson  said  that  his  host  was  the 


first  Scotchman  at  whose  house  he 
had  had  enough  of  green  pease.'  In 
the  Sporting  Magazine  for  October, 
1S06,  p.  10,  the  following  anecdote  is 
told  of  this  same  dinner : — '  A  gentle- 
man of  the  company  said  that  what- 
ever genuine  patriotism  remained  in 
the  country  was  to  be  found  only 
amongst  the  Whigs.  Johnson  asked 
him  if  he  knew  who  was  the  first 
Whig.  The  gentleman  replied  in  the 
negative.  "  Well  then,  Sir,"  said  the 
Doctor,  "I'll  tell  you  who  he  was; 
his  name  was  Lucifer,  and  for  his 
patriotism  he  was  kicked  out  of 
heaven."'  Johnson  is  described  as 
being  '  rather  a  man  of  taciturnity,' 
and  as  'putting  on  his  spectacles.' 
The  spectacles  throw  doubt  on  the 
whole  story  ;  perhaps  it  is  nothing 
but  a  modification  of  Johnson's 
saying  '  that  the  first  Whig  was  the 
Devil.'     Life,  iii.  326. 

''  Johnson  wrote  on  July  20  : — '  My 
appetite  still  continues  keen  enough  ; 
and  what  I  consider  as  a  symptom  of 
radical  health,  I  have  a  voracious 
delight  in  raw  summer  fruit,  of  which 
I  was  less  eager  a  few  years  ago.'  lb. 
iv.  353.  Sir  William  Temple,  with 
whose  writings  he  was  familiar, 
says  : — '  No  part  of  diet  in  any 
season  is  so  healthful,  so  natural, 
and  so  agreeable  to  the  stomach  as 
good  and  well-ripened  fruits.  I  can 
say  it  for  myself  at  least  and  all  my 
friends  that  the  season  of  summer 
fruits  is  ever  the  season  of  health 
with  us.'  Temple's  fFi9r/'.y,  ed.  1757, 
iii.  236. 

the 


Aetat.  74.]  To  the  Revej'eud  Dr.  Taylor.  401 

the  asthma  attacks  me  often,  and  the  dropsy  is  watching  an 
opportunity  to  return.  I  hope  I  have  checked  it,  but  great 
caution  must  be  used,  and  indeed  great  caution  is  not  a  high 
price  for  health  or  ease. 

What  I  shall  do  next  I  know  not  ;  all  my  schemes  of  rural 
pleasure  have  been  some  way  or  other  disappointed.  I  have 
now  some  thought  of  Lichfield  and  Ashbourne.  Let  me  know, 
dear  Madam,  your  destination  '. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

967. 

e^^^  To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^. 

When  we  parted  last  night,  I  thought  worse  of  your  case, 
than  I  think  since  I  have  thought  longer  upon  it.  Your  general 
distemper  is,  I  think,  a  hectic  fever,  for  which  the  bark  is 
proper,  and  which  quietness  of  mind,  and  gentle  exercise,  and 
fresh  air  may  cure.  Your  present  weakness  is  the  effect  of  such 
waste  of  blood  as  would  weaken  a  young  man  in  his  highest 
vigour.  It  might  be  necessary,  but  it  must  sink  both  your 
courage  and  strength. 

Dr.  Nichols  ^  hurt  himself  extremely  in  his  old  age  by  lavish 

'  It  was  probably  on  the  very  day  of  his  countrymen,  a  man  very  low 

Johnson  wrote  this  letter  that  Piozzi  in  his  profession.'    Life,  ii.  354.    See 

in  Milan  received  the  letter  from  Mrs.  also  Zi^.  iii.  163.     In  the  Getitlemati's 

Thrale's  doctor  at  Bath  which  brought  Magazine,  1785,  i.  13,  is  a  Memoir  of 

him  back    post   haste   to    England.  Nicholls  where  it  is  stated  that  on 

Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  277.  the  death  of  George  II,  'this  most 

^  I  owe  the  copy  of  this  Letter  to  skilful  physician  was  superseded  to 

the  kindness  of  Mr.  F.  Locker-Lamp-  make  way  for  one  (Sir  W.  D.)  who, 

son,  of  Rowfant,  Crawley,  in  whose  not  long  before,  had  been  an  army 

possession  is  the  original.  surgeon  of  the  lowest  class.     By  this 

^  Frank  Nicholls.  Johnson  speak-  exchange  the  upstart  rose  to  dignity 

ing   of  the   Earl   of  Bute's   '  undue  and   riches.'     Nicholls  a   few  years 

partiality    for    Scotchmen  '    said  :^  earlier  had  satirised  the  Scots  in  an 

'  He  turned  out  Dr.  Nichols,  a  very  anonymous   pamphlet.      To  '  lavish 

eminent  man,  from  being  physician  phlebotomy'   he    had   no  doubt   re- 

to  the  King,  to  make  room  for  one  sorted  as  a  remedy  against  '  an  in- 

VOL.  II.                                      D  d                                phlebotomy. 


402 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor.         [a.d.  1784. 


phlebotomy.     Do  not  bleed  again  very  soon,  and  when  you  can 
delay  no  longer  be  more  moderate. 

I  think  you  do  right  in  going  home,  and  hope  you  will  have 
an  easy  and  pleasant  journey. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  aiTectionately, 

Sam  :  Johnson. 

Bolt  Court,  June  19,  1784. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor. 


968. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 
Dear  Sir, 

It  is   now  Wednesday  Evening ",     I  hope  you  are  lodged 

easily  and  safely  in  Ashbourne.     Since  we  parted  I  have  not 

been  well.     I  dined  on  Saturday  with  Dr.  Brocklesby,  and  was 

taken  ill  at  his  house,  but  went  to  the  club  '.     On  Monday  I  was 

so  uneasy  that   I  staid  at  home.     On  Tuesday  I  dined  at  the 

club  ■*,  but  was  not  wxll  at  night,  nor  am  well  to  day  but  hope 


veterate  asthmatic  cough '  which 
carried  him  ofif  in  his  eightieth  year, 
just  as  Johnson,  under  a  similar 
distress,  had  had  taken  from  him 
about  fifty  ounces  of  blood  {ante,  ii. 

253). 

W.  D.  was  William  Duncan,  who 
in  1764  was  made  a  baronet.  He 
married  a  sister  of  the  Earl  of  Thanet. 
Walpole's  Letters,  vi.  130,  and  Gen- 
tlemarCs  Magazine,  1764,  p.  399. 

For  Taylor's  phlebotomy  see  atite, 
ii.  160. 

'  From  the  original  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Alfred  H.  Huth,  of  Bolncy 
House,  Ennismore  Gardens,  London. 

^  Boswell  had  visited  Johnson  in 
the  morning  of  this  day,  after  first 
seeing  fifteen  men  in  a  batch  hanged 
before  Newgate.  From  the  scene  of 
this   'legal  massacre '(to  use  John- 


son's own  words)  Bolt  Court  was 
distant  but  a  few  minutes'  walk.  Life, 
iv.  328. 

^  The  Essex  Head  Club  which  met 
on  a  Saturday  and  two  evenings  be- 
sides, lb.  iv.  254,  275.  A7iie,  ii.  396, 
n.  2. 

•*  The  Literary  Club.  '  On  Tues- 
day, June  22,'  writes  Boswell,  '  I 
dined  with  him  at  the  Literary 
Club,  the  last  time  of  his  being  in 
that  respectable  society.  He  looked 
ill ;  but  had  such  a  manly  fortitude, 
that  he  did  not  trouble  the  company 
with  melancholy  complaints.  They 
all  shewed  evident  marks  of  kind 
concern  about  him,  with  which  he 
was  much  pleased,  and  he  exerted 
himself  to  be  as  entertaining  as  his 
indisposition  allowed  him.'  lb.  iv. 
326. 

the 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Mvs.  Tkrale.  403 

the  fit  is  abating.  Boswel  has  a  great  mind  to  draw  me  to 
Lichfield,  and  as  I  love  to  travel  with  him,  I  have  a  mind  to  be 
drawn  if  I  could  hope  in  any  short  time  to  come  to  your  house, 
for  Lichfield  will,  I  am  afraid,  not  be  a  place  for  long  continuance, 
and,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  am  afraid  of  seeing  my  self  so  far  from 
home,  as  I  must  return  alone '. 

Sir  John  Hawkins  has  just  told  me  that  you  preached  on 
Sunday  with  great  vigour.  You  have  therefore  a  great  fund  of 
strength  left,  which  I  entreat  you  not  to  bleed  away  -. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Yours  affectionately, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

June  23,  1784. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. 


969 

To  Mrs.  ThraleI 
Dear  Madam,  London,  June  26,  1784. 

This  morning  I  saw  Mr.  Lysons  ■* :  he  is  an  agreeable  young 

man,  and  likely  enough  to  do  all  that  he  designs.     I  received 

him   as   one   sent    by  you  has  a  right  to  be  received,  and    I 

hope  he  will  tell  you  that  he  was  satisfied ;  but  the  initiatory  ^ 

'  Boswell,  who  was  returning  to  ^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  373. 

Scotland,  no  doubt  wanted  Johnson  "*  Samuel       Lysons,       afterwards 

to  accompany  him  as  far  as  Lichfield.  Keeper  of  the  Records  in  the  Tower, 

Johnson  told  Mrs.  Knowles  that  'he  then  a  law-student.       'He    made,' 

was  the  best  travelling  companion  in  writes  Mrs.  Piozzi,  '  my  bargain  with 

the  world.'     Life,   iii.   294.     At   the  the  bookseller  [for  the  Anecdotes  of 

beginning   of    the  Journey    to    the  Dr.  Johnson\,   from   whom   on   my 

Hebrides  he  praises    '  his   gaiety  of  return  I   received  ^300,  a  sum  un- 

conversation  and  civility  of  manners.'  exampled  in  those  days  for  so  small 

Life,  v.  52,  and   ante,  i.  291.     Had  a  volume.'    Hayward's/*/(?22'z,  ii.  126. 

they  gone  together  a  most  interesting  Lysons,    '  though  a    great    friend 

addition  would  have  been  made  to  of  Mrs.  Piozzi's,  said  that  Johnson 

the  Life.    As  it  was,  Johnson  started  not  only  revised  throughout  her  poem 

less  than  a  fortnight  after  Boswell.  of  The  Three  Warnings,  but  supplied 

^  For  Taylor's  habit  of '  periodical  several  new  lines.'     Prior's  Malone, 

bleeding' see  Z//^,  iii.  152.     Perhaps  p.  413.     Boswell  did  not  know  of  this. 

Johnson  thought  that  he  himself  had  Life,  ii.  26. 

bled  his  strength  away  by  the  fifty  ^  Itiitiatory   is   not    in   Johnson's 

ounces  which  he  had  had  taken  from  Dictionary. 
him  in  the  spring  of  1782.  lb.  iv.  146. 

D  d  2                               conversation 


404 


To  Mrs.  Th7'ale. 


[A.D.  1784, 


conversation  of  two  strangers  is  seldom  pleasing  or  instructive 
to  any  great  degree,  and  ours  was  such  as  other  occasions  of  the 
same  kind  produce. 

A  message  came  to  me  yesterday  to  tell  me  that  Macbean, 
after  three  days  of  illness,  is  dead  of  a  suppression  of  urine.  He 
was  one  of  those  who,  as  Swift  says,  stood  as  a  screen  between 
me  and  deaih\  He  has  I  hope  made  a  good  exchange.  He 
was  very  pious  ;  he  was  very  innocent ;  he  did  no  ill ;  and  of 
doing  good  a  continual  tenour  of  distress  allowed  him  few  oppor- 
tunities :  he  was  very  highly  esteemed  in  the  house  ^ 

Write  to  me  if  you  can  some  words  of  comfort.  My  dear 
girls  seem  all  to  forget  me. 

I  am,  Madam, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson ^ 


'  'The  fools,  my  juniors  by  a  year. 
Are  tortured  with  suspense  and 

fear, 
Who   wisely  thought   my  age  a 

screen. 
When     death     approached,     to 
stand  between.' 
Oft  the  Death  of  Dr.  Swift:  Swift's 
Works,  ed.  1803,  xi.  246. 

^  The  Charterhouse,  of  which  he 
was  '  a  poor  brother.'  Ante,  ii. 
213. 

^  Insteadof  the  words  of  comfort' 
which  he  asked  for  he  received  in  a 
few  days  the  following  letters  un- 
signed. That  they  were  unsigned 
was  clearly  intentional.  Mrs.  Thrale 
was  not  yet  married  to  Piozzi,  but 
she  wished  Johnson  to  believe,  as  his 
answer  shows  he  inclined  to  believe, 
that  she  was  married.  In  publishing 
the  first  of  the  letters — the  second 
she  left  unpublished— she  heads  it 


*  Mrs.  Piozzi  to  Dr.  Johnson,'  as  in 
like  manner  she  heads  his  letter  of 
July  8,  '  Dr.  Johnson  to  Mrs.  Piozzi.' 
'  We  were  married,'  she  says,  '  in 
London  by  the  Spanish  ambassador's 
chaplain,  and  returned  hither  [to 
Bath]  to  be  married  by  Mr.  Morgan, 
of  Bath,  at  St.  James's  Church,  July 
25,  1784.'  Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  277. 
In  Jackson's  Oxford  Journal,  for 
July  31,  is  the  following  curious 
announcement  :  '  Bath,  July  28. 
Sunday  (and  not  before)  was  married 
at  St.  James's  Church  in  this  city, 
Gabriele  Piozzi,  Esq.,  of  that  Parish 
to  Mrs.  Thrale,  Widow  of  Henry 
Thrale,  Esq.,  of  St.  Saviour's,  South- 
wark.'  The  Rev.  H.  R.  Laughton,  the 
Chaplain  of  the  Spanish  Chapel,  in- 
forms me  that  he  has  examined  the 
records  which  go  back  to  1734,  but 
has  not  discovered  any  trace  of  the 
marriage. 


'MRS.  PIOZZI  TO  DR.    JOHNSON. 
*  My  dear  Sir,  Bath,  June  30. 

'  The  enclosed  is  a  circular  letter  which  I  have  sent  to  all  the  guardians, 
but  our  friendship  demands  somewhat  more ;  it  requires  that  I  should  beg 

To 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.  Tkrale. 


405 


970. 

Madam,  'To  Mrs.  Thrale  ^ 

If   I    interpret    your    letter   right,   you    are    ignominiously 

your  pardon  for  concealing  from  you  a  connexion  which  you  must  have  heard 
of  by  many,  but  I  suppose  never  believed  ^.  Indeed,  my  dear  Sir,  it  was  con- 
cealed only  to  save  us  both  needless  pain  ;  I  could  not  have  borne  to  reject 
that  counsel  it  would  have  killed  me  to  take,  and  I  only  tell  it  you  now  be- 
cause all  is  irrevocably  settled,  and  out  of  your  power  to  prevent.  I  will  say, 
however,  that  the  dread  of  your  disapprobation  has  given  me  some  anxious 
moments,  and  though,  perhaps,  I  am  become  by  many  privations  the  most 
independent  woman  in  the  world,  I  feel  as  if  acting  without  a  parent's  consent 
till  you  write  kindly  to 

Your  faithful  servant.' 

Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  374. 


'Sir, 


Circular. 


'  As  one  of  the  executors  of  Mr.  Thrale's  will  and  guardian  to  his 
daughters,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  acquaint  you  that  the  three  eldest  left  Bath 
last  Friday  for  their  own  house  at  Brighthelmstone  in  company  with  an 
amiable  friend.  Miss  Nicholson,  who  has  sometimes  resided  with  us  here, 
and  in  whose  society  they  may,  I  think,  find  some  advantages  and  certainly 
no  disgrace.  I  waited  on  them  to  Salisbury,  Wilton,  &c.,  and  offered  to 
attend  them  to  the  seaside  myself,  but  they  preferred  this  lady's  company  to 
mine,  having  heard  that  Mr.  Piozzi  is  coming  back  from  Italy,  and  judging 
perhaps  by  our  past  friendship  and  continued  correspondence  that  his  return 
would  be  succeeded  by  our  marriage. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant. 

Bath,  June  30,  1784.' 


Miss  Nicholson, '  who,'  Mrs.  Piozzi 
says, '  has  sometimes  resided  with  us 
here,'  was  'directed  to  her  door  by 
Providence'  early  in  the  very  month  in 
which  she  wrote  this  letter.  lb.  ii.  334. 
In  anotherpassage  she  writes: — 'Miss 
Thrale  was  of  age  by  now,  and  I  left 
Miss  Nicholson,  the  Bishop's  grand- 
daughter, whom  they  appeared  to 
like  exceedingly,  with  them,  but  she 
soon  quitted  her  post  on  observing 
that  they  gave  people  to  understand 
she  was  a  cast  mistress  of  dear  Piozzi, 
who  never  saw  her  face  out  of  their 
company,  except  once  at  a  dinner 
visit.'  lb.  i.  275.  Miss  Thrale  was 
not    of    age.       She    was    born    on 


Hayward's  Piozzi,  \.  110. 

September  17,  1764,  and  so  was  only 
nineteen.  Baretti  has  the  following 
note  on  Mrs.  Thrale's  first  letter  : — ■ 
'  She  was  not  yet  married  when  she 
wrote  her  last  letter  but  one  to  John- 
son. This  letter  of  hers  is  falsified 
for  the  purpose  of  this  edition,  and 
the  answer  to  it  [Letter  972]  is  a  mere 
forgery  of  hers.  But  this  I  shall  prove 
in  another  place.'  Johnson's  letter 
was  not  forged,  as  Mr.  Hay  ward  saw 
the  original.  It  was  not,  however,  as 
it  is  made  to  appear  by  Mrs.  Piozzi, 
an  answer  to  her  first  letter. 

'  First  published  in  Hayward's 
Piozzi,  i.  III. 

In  the  Gentlemaiis  Magazine  for 


This  line  is  quoted  by  Boswell,  Life,  iv.  339. 


married 


4o6  To  Mrs.  Tkrale.  [a.d.  i784. 

married  ;  if  it  is  yet  undone,  let  us  once '  more  talk  together.  If 
you  have  abandoned  your  children  and  your  religion,  God  forgive 
your  wickedness ;  if  you  have  forfeited  your  fame  and  your 
country,  may  your  folly  do  no  further  mischief.  If  the  last  act 
is  yet  to  do,  I  who  have  loved  you,  esteemed  you,  reverenced 
you.  and  served yoti,  I  who  long  thought  you  the  first  of  woman- 
kind, entreat  that,  before  your  fate  is  irrevocable,  I  may  once 
more  see  you.     I  was,  I  once  was. 

Madam,  most  truly  yours, 
July  2, 1784.  Sam:  Johnson. 

I  will  come  down  if  you  will  permit  it^. 

December,   1784,  ii.  893,  a  spurious  printed  in  Croker's  Boswell,  p.  JJJ. 
copy   of    this    letter   is   given — '  an  '  '  The  four  words  which  I  have 

adumbration '  of  it  as  Johnson,  ac-  printed    in    itahcs    are    indistinctly 

cording     to      Hawkins,      called     it.  written,  and  cannot  be  satisfactorily 

Hawkins's  y£>/z«j(9«,  p.  569.     It  is  re-  made  out.'     Note  by  Mr.  Hay  ward. 

^  To  this  letter  Mrs.  Thrale  sent  the  following  answer  : — 

'Sir,  'July  4,  1784. 

'  I  have  this  morning  received  from  you  so  rough  a  letter  in  reply  to  one 
which  was  both  tenderly  and  respectfully  written,  that  I  am  forced  to  desire 
the  conclusion  of  a  correspondence  which  I  can  bear  to  continue  no  longer. 
The  birth  of  my  second  husband  is  not  meaner  than  that  of  my  first ;  his 
sentiments  are  not  meaner  ;  his  profession  is  not  mpaner,  and  his  superiority 
in  what  he  professes  acknowledged  by  all  mankind.  It  is  want  of  fortune 
then  that  is  ignominious ;  the  character  of  the  man  I  have  chosen  has  no 
other  claim  to  such  an  epithet.  The  religion  to  which  he  has  been  always 
a  zealous  adherent  will,  I  hope,  teach  him  to  forgive  insults  he  has  not 
deserved  ;  mine  will,  I  hope,  enable  me  to  bear  them  at  once  with  dignity 
and  patience.  To  hear  that  I  have  forfeited  my  fame  is  indeed  the  greatest 
insult  I  ever  yet  received.  My  fame  is  as  unsullied  as  snow,  or  I  should  think 
it  unworthy  of  him  who  must  henceforth  protect  it. 

I  write  by  the  coach  the  more  speedily  and  effectually  to  prevent  your 
coming  hither.  Perhaps  by  my  fame  (and  I  hope  it  is  so)  you  mean  only 
that  celebrity  which  is  a  consideration  of  a  much  lower  kind.  I  care  for  that 
only  as  it  may  give  pleasure  to  my  husband  and  his  friends. 

Farewell,  dear  Sir,  and  accept  my  best  wishes.  You  have  always  com- 
manded my  esteem,  and  long  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  a  friendship  never 
infringed  by  one  harsh  expression  on  my  part  during  twenty  years  of  familiar 
talk.  Never  did  I  oppose  your  will,  or  control  your  wish  ;  nor  can  your 
unmerited  severity  itself  lessen  my  regard  ;  but  till  you  have  changed  your 
opinion  of  Mr.  Piozzi  let  us  converse  no  more.     God  bless  you.' 

Hay  ward's  Piozzi,  i.  iii. 

In  this  letter  by  the  use  of  the  word  Johnson  to  believe  that  she  is  already 
husband  she  evidently  wishes  to  lead       married. 

To 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  Mrs.  TJn-ale. 


407 


971. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[London],  July  6,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  348. 


972. 

To  Mrs.  Thrale'. 
Dear  Madam,  London,  July  8,  1784. 

What  you  have  done,  however  I  may  lament  it,  I  have  no 
pretence  to  resent,  as  it  has  not  been  injurious  to  me :  I  there- 
fore breathe  out  one  sigh  more  of  tenderness,  perhaps  useless, 
but  at  least  sincere  "". 

I  wish  that  God  may  grant  you  every  blessing,  that  you  may 
be  happy  in  this  world  for  its  short  continuance,  and  eternally 
happy  in  a  better  state ;  and  whatever  I  can  contribute  to  your 
happiness  I  am  very  ready  to  repay,  for  that  kindness  which 
soothed  twenty  years  of  a  life  radically  wretched. 

Do  not  think  slightly  of  the  advice  which  I  now  presume  to 
offer.     Prevail  upon  Mr.  Piozzi  to  settle  in  England  ^ :  you  may 


Johnson,  speaking  of  her  to  Miss 
Burney  in  the  following  November, 
said : — '  If  I  meet  with  one  of  her 
letters  I  burn  it  instantly.  I  have 
burnt  all  I  can  find.'  Mme. 
D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  328.  The  one 
just  quoted  escaped  the  fire,  and 
being  found  among  his  papers  was 
returned  by  Hawkins,  one  of  his 
executors,  to  the  writer.  Memoirs 
of  Miss  Hawkins,  i.  66.  The  other 
two  executors.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
and  Sir  William  Scott,  seven  years 
later,  talking  in  Malone's  presence, 
'  concerning  that  despicable  woman, 
Mrs.  Piozzi,'  told  him  of  these  two 
letters  '  which  she  had  suppressed. 
She  said  in  hers,  as  both  Sir  W.  Scott 
and  Sir  Joshua  agreed,  that  however 
she  might  have  disgraced  Miss 
Salusbiiry  by  marrying  the  brewer 
she  could  not  disgrace  Mrs.  Thrale 
by  marrying  Piozzi.'    Prior's  Malone, 


p.  412.  Johnson  praised  Reynolds 
for  the  truthfulness  of  his  stories 
(Piozzi's  Anecdotes,  p.  1 16)  ;  in  Scott 
who  became  a  great  Judge  we  should 
have  looked  for  accuracy.  Yet  how 
wide  was  their  report  from  the  truth  ! 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  375. 

According  to  the  heading  there 
given  this  letter  was  addressed  '  To 
Mrs.  Piozzi.'  Mr.  Hayward  however 
says  that  both  this  letter  and  that  of 
the  2nd  were  addressed,  '  To  Mrs. 
Thrale.'  Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  109. 
Nevertheless  with  strange  careless- 
ness in  printing  it  he  heads  it  '  To 
Mrs.  Piozzi.' 

^  '  How  could  Johnson  have  ever 
written  such  stuff.?' — Baretti. 

^  On  this  Mrs.  Piozzi  has  the 
following  note  :  —  '  Dr.  Johnson's 
advice  corresponded  exactly  with 
Mr.  Piozzi's  intentions.  He  was  im- 
patient to  show  Italy  to  me  and  vie 

live 


4o8 


To  Mrs.  Thrale. 


[A.D.  1784. 


live  here  with  more  dignity  than  in  Italy,  and  with  more  security  : 
your  rank  will  be  higher,  and  your  fortune  more  under  your  own 
eye.  I  desire  not  to  detail  all  my  reasons,  but  every  argument 
of  prudence  and  interest  is  for  England,  and  only  some  phantoms 
of  imagination  '  seduce  you  to  Italy. 

I  am  afraid  however  that  my  counsel  is  vain,  yet  I  have 
eased  my  heart  by  giving  it. 

When  Queen  Mary  took  the  resolution  of  sheltering  herself 
in  England,  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  attempting  to  dis- 
suade her,  attended  on  her  journey;  and  when  they  came  to  the 
irremeable^  stream  that  separated  the  two  kingdoms,  walked  by 
her  side  into  the  water,  in  the  middle  of  which  he  seized  her 
bridle,  and  with  earnestness  proportioned  to  her  danger  and  his 
own  affection  pressed  her  to  return.     The  Queen  went  forward^. 


to  the  Italians,  but  never  meant  to 
forbear  bringing  his  wife  home  again, 
and  showing  he  had  brought  her. 
Well  aware  of  the  bustle  his  marriage 
made,  it  was  his  most  earnest  wish 
that  every  doubt  of  his  honour  and 
of  my  happiness  should  be  dispelled  ; 
so  that  whilst  our  ladies  [her 
daughters]  and  Madame  D'Arblay, 
that  was  Miss  Bumey,  and  Baretti, 
and  all  the  low  Italians  of  the  Hay- 
market  who  hated  my  husband,  were 
hatching  stories  how  he  had  sold  my 
jointure,  had  shut  me  up  in  a  con- 
vent, &c.,  we  made  our  journey  to 
our  residence  in  Italy  as  showy  as 
we  possibly  could.  All  the  English 
at  every  town  partook  of  our 
hospitality ;  the  inhabitants  came 
flocking,  nothing  loth,  and  we  sent 
presents  to  our  beautiful  daughters 
by  every  hand  that  would  carry 
them.'     Hayward's  Piozzi,  i,  275. 

'  In  the  opening  lines  of  Rasselas 

Johnson  addresses  those  '  who  pursue 

with  eagerness  the  phantoms  of  hope.' 

'^ '  Occupat  yEneas  aditum  custode 

sepulto, 
Evaditque   celer   ripam   irreme- 

abilis  unda:.' 


'  The  keeper  charm'd,  the  chief 

without  delay 
Pass'd  on  and  took  the  irreme- 
able way.' 

Dryden.    JE^neid,  vi,  424. 
See  ante,  i.  130. 

^  Mary  did  not  cross  the  Solway 
on  horseback,  but  the  arm  of  the  sea 
in  a  fishing-boat,  from  Dundrennan 
in  Galloway  to  Workington.  John- 
son's story,  which  I  did  not  find  in 
Robertson,  Hume,Keith  or  Anderson, 
I  traced  to  Adam  Blackwood,  who 
gives  the  following  account : — 

'  Messire  Jean  Hamilton,  Ascheues- 
que  de  sainct  Andr^,  et  primat  de 
I'Eglise  d'Escosse,  home  fort  aag^, 
et  de  longue  experience,  ne  peust 
jamais  trouuer  ceste  opinion  bonne, 
cognoissant  de  tout  temps  I'infidelitd 
du  conseil  d'Angleterre.  *  *  *  Mais 
tout  cela  ne  peut  oster  de  la  teste  de 
ceste  Princesse  I'asseurance  qu'elle 
auoit  pris  aux  promesses  de  sa  cousine. 
Quoy  voyant  ce  venerable  Prelat,  et 
qu'clle  se  precipitoit  en  un  peril  tout 
euident,  ainsi  qu'cUe  se  mettoit  sur 
Teau  pour  dcscendre  en  cette  terra 
fatalc,  il  se  mit  h,  genoux,  la  saisit  au 
corps   auec  les   deux  bras,   et   auec 

If 


Aetat.  74.]  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Ada?ns. 


409 


If  the  parallel  reaches  thus  far,  may  it  go  no  further. — The 

tears  stand  in  my  eyes. 

I  am  going  into  Derbyshire,  and  hope  to  be  followed  by  your 
good  wishes,  for  I  am,  with  great  affection, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 
Any  letters  that  come  for  me  hither  will  be  sent  me '. 


[London],  July   11, 
where  it  is  misdated  June  11. 


973. 
To  James  Boswell. 
1784.     Published  in  part  in  the  Life,  iv.  351, 


974. 

^  ^  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Adams  ^. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  am   going  into  Staffordshire  and  Derbyshire  in  quest  of 

some  relief^,  of  which  my  need  is  not  less  than  when  I  was 

treated  at  your  house  with  so  much  tenderness. 

I  have  now  received  the  collations  for  Xenophon,  which  I  have 

sent   you  with  the  letters   that   relate   to  them.     I   cannot  at 

present  take  any  part  in  the  work,  but  I  would  rather  pay  for  a 


larmes  luy  dist,  qu'  elle  auroit  la 
peine  de  le  trainer,  si  elle  passoit  plus 
outre.  Mais  en  fin  la  voyant  obstinee 
en  son  malheur,  et  ne  pouuant 
resistor  a  sa  volontd,  apres  luy  avoir 
encores  une  fois  remonstre  que  sa 
Majesty  s'alloit  perdre,  son  estat, 
son  Royaume,  ses  bons  seruiteurs, 
et  la  foy  Catholique,  il  lui  demanda 
cong^  de  se  retirer,'  &c.  Adami 
Blacvodsei  [Adam  Blackwood]  Opera 
Omnia,  1644,  p.  589.  Blackwood,  or 
his  French  printer,  makes  a  strange 
hash  of  the  names  of  places.  We  find 
Dundreuen,  Vvirkinton,  Cokirmouth 
and  Courberlande.  The  '  venerable 
prelate,'  who  was  a  man  of  the  loosest 
life  and  a  cruel  persecutor,  was  hanged 
three  years  later.  Froude's  Hist,  of 
England,  ed.  1870,  vi.  221,  3;  i.x.  419. 


'  '  In  a  memorandum  on  this  letter 
Mrs.  Piozzi  says : — "  I  wrote  him  a 
very  kind  and  affectionate  letter."  ' 
Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  1 14. 

^  First  published  in  Croker's  Bos- 
well, page  782.  Corrected  by  me 
from  the  original  in  the  possession  of 
Messrs.  J.  Pearson  &  Co.,  5  Pall 
Mall  Place,  S.W. 

The  Letter  bears  no  address  and 
is  misdated  June  1 1.  It  was  evidently 
written  in  July.  On  June  11  Johnson 
was  with  Boswell  at  Dr.  Adams's 
house.  It  is  curious  that  a  Letter 
written  to  L'oswell  was  also  misdated 
June  II.     Life,  iv.  351. 

The  original  was  sold  by  Messrs. 
Christie  &  Co.  on  June  5,  1888  (Lot 
49)>  for  /5  5J. 

^  He  set  out  on  July  13.  Zz/k,iv.353. 

collation 


4IO  To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Adams.         [a.d.  i784. 

collation  of  Oppian,  than  see  it  neglected  ;  for  the  Frenchmen 
act  with  great  liberality.     Let  us  not  fall  below  them '. 

I  know  not  in  what  state  Dr.  Edwards  left  his  book  '^.  Some 
of  his  emendations  seemed  to  me  to  (be)  irrefragably  certain,  and 
such  therefore  as  ought  not  to  be  lost.  His  rule  was  not  (to) 
change  the  text,  and,  therefore,  I  suppose  he  has  left  notes  to  be 
subjoined.  As  the  book  is  posthumous  some  account  of  the 
Editor  ought  to  be  given. 

You  have  now  the  whole  process  of  the  correspondence  before 
you.  When  the  Prior  is  answered,  let  some  apology  be  made 
for  me  ^. 

I  was  forced  to  devide  \sic\  the  collation,  but  as  it  is  paged, 
you  will  easily  put  every  part  in  its  proper  place. 

Be  pleased  to  convey  my  respects  to  Mrs.  and  Miss  Adams'*. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

London,  June  [July  ii],  1784.  SaM  :   JOHNSON. 

975. 
To  THE  Reverend  Mr.  Bagshaw. 

[London],  July  12,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  351. 

'  The     collation      was     probably  who  had  the  use  of  his  manuscripts, 

wanted  for  an  edition  of  Oppian  by  '  The  Frenchmen '  had  collated  the 

Belin  de  Ballu  of  which  one  volume  three    manuscripts     in    the    King's 

was  pubhshed  at  Strasbourg  in  1786.  Library   at    Paris.      The   book   was 

The     editor   was     '  conseiller  a   la  published  in  1785. 

cour  des  monnaies '  at  Paris.     He  ^  The    Prior  was,  no   doubt,   the 

does  not  seem  to  have  received  the  Prior  of  the  English  Benedictines  in 

collation  from  Oxford  ^  whose  convent  Johnson  had  a  cell 

="  For    Dr.     Edwards     see     mtte,  appropriated  to  him.     Life,  ii.  402, 

ii.  257.     Johnson   wrote  to    him   on  See  ante,  i.  402,  for  Johnson's  Letter 

November  2,    1778: — 'What  comes  to  Dr.  Adams  in  which  he  introduces 

of  Xenophon  }    If  you  do  not  like  the  '  a  learned  Benedictine.' 

trouble  of  publishing  the  book,  do  "  '  Miss  Adams   happened  to  tell 

not  let  your  commentaries  be  lost.'  him  that  a  little  coffee-pot,  in  which 

Life,  iii.  367.     He  lived  long  enough  she  had  made  his   coffee,  was    the 

to  complete  the  Greek  text  and  the  only  thing  she  could  call   her  own. 

Latin  version  of  the  Me})iorabiIia,\\\G  He  turned  to  her  with  a  complacent 

work  on  which  he  was  engaged.    The  gallantry,  "Don't  say  so,  my  dear; 

notes  and  the  various  readings  were  I  hope  you  don't  reckon  my  heart  as 

supplied  by  his  friend,  Henry  Owen,  nothing."  '     Life,  iv.  292. 

"  I  am  indebted  for  this  information  to  Mr.  H.  Omont  of  the  Bibliolheque  Nationale, 
Paris. 

To 


Aetat.  74.] 


To  John  Rylattd. 


411 


976. 

To  Bennet  Langton. 
[London],  July  12,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  352. 


977. 
Dear  Sir,  ^o  John  Ryland  \ 

Mr.  Payne  "^  will  pay  you  fifteen  pounds  towards  the  stone 
of  which  you  have  kindly  undertaken  the  care.  The  Inscrip- 
tion is  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Bagshaw,  who  has  a  right  to  inspect 
it  before  he  admits  it  into  his  Church. 

Be  pleased  to  let  the  whole  be  done  with  privacy,  that  I  may 
elude  the  vigilance  of  the  papers. 

I  am  going  for  a  while  into  Derbyshire  in  hope  of  help  from 
the  air  of  the  country. 

I  hope  your  journey  has  benefited  you.     The  Club  ^  prospers  ; 
we  meet  by  ten  at  a  time. 

God  send  that  you  and  I  may  enjoy  and  improve  each  other. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
July  12, 1784.  Sam:  Johnson. 

To  Mr.  Ryland 
in  Muscovy  Court 
Tower  hill. 


'  First  published  in  Notes  and 
Queries,  5th  S.  vii.  381.  Corrected 
by  me  from  the  original  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison,  of 
Fonthill  House. 

For  Mr.  Ryland  see  ante,  i.  56. 

On  the  same  day  Johnson  wrote 
the  following  letter  : — 
'  To  the  Reverend  Mr.  Bagshaw,  at 
Bromley. 

'Sir, 

Perhaps  you  may  remember, 
that  in  the  year  1753  [1752],  you 
committed  to  the  ground  my  dear  wife. 
I  now  entreat  your  permission  to  lay 
a  stone  upon  her ;  and  have  sent  the 
inscription,  that,  if  you  find  it  proper, 
you  may  signify  your  allowance. 


You  will  do  me  a  great  favour  by 
showing  the  place  where  she  lies, 
that  the  stone  may  protect  her  re- 
mains. 

Mr.  Ryland  will  wait  on  you  for 
the  inscription,  and  procure  it  to  be 
engraved.  You  will  easily  believe 
that  I  shrink  from  this  mournful 
office.  When  it  is  done,  if  I  have 
strength  remaining,  I  will  visit 
Bromley  once  again,  and  pay  you 
part  of  the  respect  to  which  you  have 
a  right  from,  Reverend  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson.' 
Life,  iv.  351. 

-  Ante,  ii.  363,  11.  I. 

'  The  Essex  Head  Club. 

To 


412  To  Sir  Jo  hi  Hawkins.  [a.d.  1784. 

978. 

To  Sir  John  Hawkins. 

Ashbourne,  [?July,  1784]. 

In  Hawkins's  Life  of  Johnson,  page  571,  the  following  extract  is  given 
from  a  letter  written  by  Johnson  to  Hawkins  from  Ashbourne : — 

'  Poor  Thrale  !  I  thought  that  either  her  virtue  or  her  vice  would 
have  restrained  her  from  such  a  marriage.  She  is  now  become  a 
subject  for  her  enemies  to  exult  over,  and  for  her  friends,  if  she  has 
any  left,  to  forget  or  pity.' 

By  '  her  virtue '  Hawkins  understood  he  meant  the  love  of  her 
children,  and  by  her  vice,  her  pride.  '  He  looked  upon  the  desertion 
of  children  by  their  parents,  and  the  withdrawing  from  them  that  pro- 
tection, that  mental  nutriment  which  in  their  youth  they  are  capable 
of  receiving,  the  exposing  them  to  the  snares  and  temptations  of  the 
world,  and  the  solicitations  and  deceits  of  the  artful  and  designing,  as 
most  unnatural.' 

979. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
Ashbourne,  July  20,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  353. 

980. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
Ashbourne,  July  21,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  366, 

981. 

To  James  Boswell. 

Ashbourne,  July  26,  1784.     Published  in  part  in  the  Z//f,  iv.  348, 

378-9- 

982. 

To  James  Boswell. 

[Ashbourne],  July  28,  1784.     Published  in  part  in  the  Life,  iv.  379. 

983. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  July  31,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  354. 

984. 

To  Dr.  Burney. 
[Ashbourne],  August  2,  1 784.     Published  in  part  in  the  Life,  iv.  360. 

To 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Dr.  BrockUsby.  4 1 3 

985. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  August  5,  1784.     Published  in  part  in  the  Life,  iv.  354. 

986. 
To  John  Hoole. 
[Ashbourne],  August  7,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  359. 

987. 
To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  August  12,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  354. 

988. 

To  Heely. 

Ashbourne,  August  12,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  371. 

989. 
To  John  Hoole. 
[Ashbourne],  August  13,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  359. 

990. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  August  14,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  354. 

991. 

To  Thomas  Davies. 
[Ashbourne],  August  14,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  365. 

992. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  August  16,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  354. 

993. 
To  Dr.  Brocklesby, 
[Ashbourne],  August  19,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  355. 

994. 

To  George  Nicol. 
Ashbourne,  August  19,  1784.     Pubhshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  365  '. 

'  See  Appendix  C. 

To 


414 


To  Francesco  Sastres. 


[A.D.  1784. 


995. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[Ashbourne],  August  19,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  366. 

996. 

To  THE  Right  Hon.  William  Windham. 
[Ashbourne,  about  August  21,  1784.]     PubHshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  362. 

997. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  August  21,  1784.     PubHshed  in  the  Life,  iv.  355. 

998. 

To  Francesco  Sastres  '. 
Dear   Sir,  Ashbonme,  August  21,  1784. 

I  am  glad  that  a  letter  has  at  last  reached  you ;  what  became 
of  the  two  former,  which  were  directed  to  Mortimer  instead  of 
Margaret  Street  -,  I  have  no  means  of  knowing,  nor  is  it  worth 
the  while  to  enquire  ;  they  neither  enclosed  bills,  nor  contained 
secrets. 


'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  405. 

Boswell,  perhaps  to  punish  Mr. 
Sastres  for  not  letting  him  pub- 
lish Johnson's  letters  to  him,  thus 
contemptuously  mentions  him  :^'Dr. 
Johnson  associated  with  persons  the 
most  widely  different  in  manners, 
abilities,  rank,  and  accomplishments. 
He  was  at  once  the  companion  of 
the  brilliant  Colonel  Forrester  of  the 
Guards,  who  wrote  The  Polite  Plii- 
losflpJier,  and  of  the  aukward  and 
uncouth  Robert  Levet ;  of  Lord 
Thurlow,  and  Mr.  Sastres,  the  Italian 
master  ;  and  has  dined  one  day  with 
the  beautiful,  gay,  and  fascinating 
Lady  Craven,  and  the  next  with 
good  Mrs.  Gardiner,  the  tallow- 
chandler,  on  Snow-hill.'  Life,  iii.  21. 
Mr.  Sastres  was  present  when  John- 
son,   a   few   days   before   his  death, 


burnt  his  mother's  letters.  *  They 
drew  from  him  a  flood  of  tears. 
When  the  paper  they  were  written 
on  was  all  consumed  he  saw  him 
cast  a  melancholy  look  upon  their 
ashes,  which  he  took  up  and  ex- 
amined to  see  if  a  word  was  still 
legible.'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  383. 
'  The  good  Mr.  Hoole,'  writes  Miss 
Burney,' and  equally  good  Mr.  Sastres 
attend  Dr.  Johnson  rather  as  nurses 
than  friends,  for  they  sit  whole  hours 
by  him  without  even  speaking  to  him. 
He  will  not,  it  seems,  be  talked  to — 
at  least  very  rarely.  At  times,  indeed 
he  re-animates ;  but  it  is  soon  over, 
and  he  says  of  himself,  "  I  am  now 
like  Macbeth — question  enrages  me."  ' 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  Diary,  ii.  '^I'h'h- 

^  Mortimer  Street  is  close  to  Mar- 
garet Street. 

My 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Frmicesco  Sastres.  415 

My  health  was  for  some  time  quite  at  a  stand,  if  it  did  not 
rather  go  backwards ;  but  for  a  week  past  it  flatters  me  with 
appearances  of  amendment,  which  I  dare  yet  hardly  credit.  My 
breath  has  been  certainly  less  obstructed  for  eight  days  ;  and 
yesterday  the  water  seemed  to  be  disposed  to  a  fuller  flow.  But 
I  get  very  little  sleep ;  and  my  legs  do  not  like  to  carry  me. 

You  were  kind  in  paying  my  forfeits  at  the  club ' ;  it  cannot 
be  expected  that  many  should  meet  in  the  summer,  however 
they  that  continue  in  town  should  keep  up  appearances  as  well 
as  they  can.     I  hope  to  be  again  among  you. 

I  wish  you  had  told  me  distinctly  the  mistakes  in  the  French 
words.  The  French  is  but  a  secondary  and  subordinate  part  of 
your  design  ;  exactness,  however,  in  all  parts  is  necessary,  though 
complete  exactness  cannot  be  attained  ;  and  the  French  are  so 
well  stocked  with  dictionaries,  that  a  little  attention  may  easily 
keep  you  safe  from  gross  faults ;  and  as  you  work  on,  your 
vigilance  will  be  quickened,  and  your  observation  regulated; 
you  will  better  know  your  own  wants,  and  learn  better  whence 
they  may  be  supplied.  Let  me  know  minutely  the  whole  state 
of  your  negotiations.  Dictionaries  are  like  watches,  the  worst  is 
better  than  none,  and  the  best  cannot  be  expected  to  go  quite 
true "". 

The  weather  here  is  very  strange  summer  weather ;  and  we 
are  here  two  degrees  nearer  the  north  than  you.  I  was  I  think 
loath  to  think  a  fire  necessary  in  July,  till  I  found  one  in  the 


'  The    Essex-Head    Club.      '  The  out  ten." '     Hayward's  Piozzi,  i.  324. 

terms  are  lax,'  wrote  Johnson,  '  and  ^  This   and  Johnson's   three   next 

the  expenses  Hght.     We  meet  thrice  letters  to  Sastres  show  that  his  friend 

a  week,  and  he  who  misses  forfeits  was  hoping  to  publish  a  Dictionary 

twopence.'    Lift\  iv.  254.    Mrs.  Piozzi  in  which  the  French  was  to  be  given, 

has  the  following  note  on  this  pas-  Perhaps    it   was    to   be    a   rival   to 

sage: — 'There   is    a   story   of    poor  Bottarelli's  Dictionary  ' of  the  three 

dear  Garrick,  whose  attention  to  his  most  fashionable  languages  in  Europe' 

money-stuff  never  forsook  him— re-  — English,  French  and  Italian — pub- 

lating  that  when   his   last    day  was  lished  in  1777.     The   design   seems 

drawing   to   an   end,   he    begged    a  to  have  come  to  nothing.     In  1789 

gentleman  present  to  pay  his  club-  Sastres      published      //      Mercurio 

forfeits,  "and  don't  let  them   cheat  Italico,    a    monthly   magazine,   with 

you,"  added  he,  "  for  there   cannot  the   Italian  and  English  in  parallel 

be  above  nine,  and  they  will  make  columns. 

servants' 


41 6 


To  Fra7icesco  Sastres. 


[A.D.  1784. 


servants'  hall,  and  thought  myself  entitled  to  ls  much  warmth 
as  them '. 

I  wish  you  would  make  it  a   task  to  yourself  to  write  to  me 
twice  a  week  ;  a  letter  is  a  great  relief  to, 

Dear  Sir, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

999. 

To  Bennet  Langton. 
[London],  August  25,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  361. 

1000. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  August  26,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  356. 

1001. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  September  2,  1784.    Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  356. 

1002. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[Ashbourne],  September  2,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  366. 

1003. 

To  Francesco  Sastres^. 

Dear    Sir,  Asnboume,  Sept.  2,  1784. 

Your  critick  seems  to  me  to  be  an  exquisite  Frenchman ; 

his  remarks  are  nice ;  they  would  at  least  have  escaped  me.     I 

wish  you  better  luck  with  your  next  specimen ;  though  if  such 


'  On  August  2  he  wrote  to  Dr. 
Burney  : — '  I  am  now  reduced  to 
think,  and  am  at  last  content  to  talk 
of  the  weather.  Pride  must  have  a 
fall.'  Life,  iv.  360.  On  September  7 
Horace  Walpole  wrote  : — '  The  sum- 
mer is  come  at  last,  My  Lord,  dressed 
as  fine  as  a  birthday,  though  not 
with  so  many  flowers  on  its  head. 
In  truth,  the  sun  is  an  old  fool,  who 
apes  the  modern  people  of  fashion 


by  arriving  too  late  :  the  day  is  going 
to  bed  before  he  makes  his  appear- 
ance.' Letters,  viii.  502.  '  It  is  ill 
with  me,'  wrote  Charles  Lamb, '  when 
I  begin  to  look  which  way  the  wind 
sets.  Ten  years  ago,  I  literally  did 
not  know  the  point  from  the  broad 
end  of  the  vane,  which  it  was  that 
indicated  thequarter.'  Lamb's  Letters, 
ed.  by  Ainger,  ii.  147. 
^  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  407. 

slips 


Aetat.  74.]  To  Fraticesco  Sastres.  4 1 7 

slips  as  these  are  to  condemn  a  dictionary,  I  know  not  when 
a  dictionary  will  be  made.  I  cannot  yet  think  that  gourmander 
is  wrong ;  but  I  have  here  no  means  of  verifying  my  opinion. 

My  health,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  still  improves ;  and  I  have 
hope  of  standing  the  English  winter,  and  of  seeing  you,  and  reading 
Petrarch  '  at  Bolt-court ;  but  let  me  not  flatter  myself  too  much. 
I  am  yet  weak,  but  stronger  than  I  was. 

I  suppose  the  club  is  now  almost  forsaken  ;  but  we  shall  I  hope 
meet  again.  We  have  lost  poor  Allen  ;  a  very  worthy  man,  and 
to  me  a  very  kind  and  officious  neighbour  ^. 

Of  the  pieces  ascribed  by  Bembo  to  Virgil,  the  Dirce  (ascribed 
I  think  to  Valerius  Cato),  the  Copa  and  the  Moretmn  are,  together 
with  the  Cidcx  and  CciJ'is,  in  Scaliger's  Appendix  ad  Virgilinin. 
The  rest  I  never  heard  the  name  of  before. 

I  am  highly  pleased  with  your  account  of  the  gentleman  and 
lady  with  whom  you  lodge ;  such  characters  have  sufficient 
attractions  to  draw  me  towards  them  ;  you  are  lucky  to  light 
upon  them  in  the  casual  commerce  of  life. 

Continue,  dear  Sir,  to  write  to  me ;  and  let  me  hear  any  thing 
or  nothing,  as  the  chance  of  the  day  may  be. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

1004. 

To  Dr.  Burney. 
[Ashbourne],  September  4,  1784.     Published  in  part  in  the  Life,  iv.  360 

1005. 

To  William  Cumberland  Cruikshank, 
Ashbourne,  September,  4,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  365, 

'  For  Johnson's  knowledge  of  Ita-  -  Writing  about  Allen's   death  to 

lian  see  Life,  i.  1 1 5.    In  1776  '  he  pro-  Dr.  Brocklesby  on  July  31  he  says  : — 

posed  to  apply  vigorously  to  the  study  '  I  thought  your  letter  long  in  coming, 

of  it.'    If),  ill.  90.    At  3  p.m.  on  August  But,  you  know,    nociiiira  pehm/ur, 

9,  1 78 1,  he  recorded, 'in  the  summer-  the  letter  which  I  so  much  desired, 

house  at  Streatham: — Having  prayed,  tells  me  that  I  have  lost  one  of  my 

I   purpose  to   employ  the   next    six  best  and  tenderest  friends.'     Jb.  iv. 

weeks  upon  the  Italian  language,  for  354.     For  officious  see  ante,  ii.  357, 

my  settled  study.'     Jb.  iv.  134.  71.  I. 

VOL.  II.                                          E  e                                                        To 


41 8  To  Francesco  Sasires.  [a.d.  1784. 

1006. 

To  John  Hoole. 
[Ashbourne],  September  4,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  360. 

1007. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
Ashbourne,  September  9,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  348,  367. 

1008. 

To  THE  Lord  High  Chancellor  Thurlow. 
[Ashbourne],  September  [9J,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  349. 

1009. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesbv. 
[Ashbourne],  September  9,  1784.     Pul)lished  in  the  Life,  iv.  357. 

1010. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  September  11,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  357. 

1011. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Ashbourne],  September  16,  1784.     Published  in  the  LJfe,  iv.  357. 

1012. 

To  Francesco  Sastres  '. 

Dear   Sir,  Ashbourne,  Sept.  i6,  1784. 

What  you  have  told  me  of  your  landlord  and  his  lady  at 
Brompton,  has  made  them  such  favourites,  that  I  am  not  sorry 
to  hear  how  you  are  turned  out  of  your  lodgings,  because  the 
good  is  greater  to  them  than  the  evil  is  to  you. 

The  death  of  dear  Mr.  Allen  gave  me  pain.  When  after  some 
time  of  absence  I  visit  a  town,  I  find  my  friends  dead  ;  when  I 
leave  a  place,  I  am  followed  with  intelligence,  that  the  friend 
whom  I  hope  to  meet  at  my  return  is  swallowed  in  the  grave. 
This  is  a  gloomy  scene ;  but  let  us  learn  from  it  to  prepare  for 

'  Piozzi  Letters,  ii.  409. 

oiu- 


Aetat.  75.]  To  Jokfi  Rylatid.  419 

our  own  removal.      Allen   is  gone ;    Sastres   and  Johnson  are 
hasting  after  him  ;  may  we  be  both  as  well  prepared  ! 

I  again  wish  your  next  specimen  success.  Paymistrcss  can 
hardly  be  said  without  a  preface,  (it  may  be  expressed  by  a  word 
perhaps  not  in  use,  Pay  mistress '). 

The  club  is,  it  seems,  totally  deserted  ;  but  as  the  forfeits  go 
on,  the  house  does  not  suffer;  and  all  clubs  I  suppose  are  un- 
attended in  the  summer.  We  shall  I  hope  meet  in  winter,  and 
be  cheerful. 

After  this  week,  do  not  write  to  me  till  you  hear  again  from 
me,  for  I  know  not  well  where  I  shall  be ;  I  have  grown  weary 
of  the  solitude  of  this  place,  and  think  of  removal  ^ 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

1013. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[Ashbourne],  September  18,  1784.    Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  368. 

1014. 

Dear  Sir,  '^^  J°"^  RvlandI 

You  are  not  long  without  an  answer.  I  had  this  day  in  three 
letters  three  histories  of  the  Flying  Man  in  the  great  Ballon.  I 
am  glad  that  we  do  as  well  as  our  neighbours.  Lunardi,  I  find, 
forgot  his  barometer  and  therefore  can  \sic\  to  what  height  he 
ascended ''. 

Direct,   if  you  please,  your   next  letter   to    Lichfield,   I  am 

'  The  passage  within  brackets  is,  Queries,  5th  S.  vii.  381.  Compared 
I  suppose,  the  preface  which  Sastres  by  me  with  the  original  in  the  posses- 
is  to  use.  '  Johnson  disapproved  of  sion  of  Mr.  Frederick  Barker,  of  41 
parentheses,'  writes  Boswell,  '  and  I  Gunterstone  Road,  West  Kensington, 
believe  in  all  his  voluminous  writin^js  London. 


o- 


not    half-a-dozen    of  them    will    be  ''  The  balloon    started    from    the 

found.'     Life,  iv.  190.  Artillery  Ground,  Finsbury.     There 

-  Five  days  earlier  he  had  written  was  a  delay  in  providing  enough  '  in- 
to Dr.  Brocklesby  : — 'I  have  no  com-  flammable  air,'  and  Lunardi,  fearful 
pany  here,  and  shall  naturally  come  lest  the  mob  should  break  in,  went 
home  hungry  for  conversation.'  lb.  up  alone.  In  the  pocket  of  his 
iv.  357.  companion,    Mr.    Biggins,   was    the 

^  First   published   in    Notes    and  barometer.     'We  saw  eveiything  so 

E  e  2                                      desirous 


420 


To  John  Ryland. 


[A.D.  1784. 


desirous  of  going  thither;  I  live  in  dismal  solitude,  and  being  now 
a  little  better  and  therefore  more  at  leisure  for  external  amuse- 
ments, I  find  the  hours  sometimes  heavy,  at  least  for  some  reason 
or  other  I  wish  for  change. 

Mr.  Wyndham  '  was  with  me,  a  day  here,  and  tried  to  wheedle 
me  to  Oxford,  and  I  perhaps  may  take  Oxford  in  my  way  home. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  affectionate 
Sept.  i8, 1784 ^  Sam:  Johnson. 

To  Mr.  Ryland,  Merchant  in  London. 


distinctly,'  wrote  a  spectator,  '  and 
were  so  much  satisfied  with  the  safety 
of  the  attempt  that  it  was  by  no 
means  that  awful  or  solemn  scene 
that  I  expected— everybody  greatly 
interested,  but  cheerful  and  gay.' 
Lunardi  landed  three  miles  beyond 
Ware  [Ware  is  twenty-one  miles  from 
London].  The  balloon  was  brought 
back  that  night,  '  and  was  lodged, 
amidst  the  acclamations  of  a  great 
mob,  at  Biggins'  house  in  Essex 
Street.'  Bentham's  Works,  x.  136. 
Windham,  calling  at  Burke's 
country-house  on  the  13th,  had 
'  found  them  all  going  to  London  the 
next  day  on  the  same  errand  as  my- 
self, viz.,  to  see  Lunardi  ascend.' 
Windham's  Diajy,  p.  22.  Horace 
Walpole  wrote  on  September 
30  : — '  I  cannot  fill  my  paper,  as  the 
newspapers  do,  with  air-balloons ; 
which,  though  ranked  with  the  in- 
vention of  navigation,  appear  to  me 
as  childish  as  the  flying  kites  of 
schoolboys.  ...  I  was  even  disap- 
pointed after  Lunardi's  expedition 
had  been  prosperous  ;  you  must  know 
I  have  no  ideas  of  space  :  when  I 
heard  how  wonderfully  he  had  soared, 
I  concluded  he  had  arrived  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  moon — alas  !  he 
had  not  ascended  above  a  mile  and  a 
half.'  Letters,  viii.  505.  See  Life, 
iv.  356,  358. 

'  For  Windham's  visit  see  Life,  iv. 


356,  and  for  his  record  of  Johnson's 
talk  see  Appendix  D. 

^  On  this  day  which  was  his  birth- 
day he  composed  the  following 
prayer.  The  original  is  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison,  of  Font- 
hill  House : — 

'  Ashbourne, 

September  18,  1784. 

Almighty  God,  merciful  Father, 
who  art  the  giver  of  all  good,  enable 
me  to  return  Thee  due  thanks  for  the 
continuance  of  my  life  and  for  the 
great  mercies  of  the  last  year,  for 
relief  from  the  diseases  that  afflicted 
me,  and  all  the  comforts  and  allevia- 
tions by  which  they  were  mitigated  ; 
and  O  my  gracious  God  make  me 
truly  thankful  for  the  call  by  which 
thou  hast  awakened  my  conscience, 
and  summoned  me  to  Repentance. 
Let  not  thy  call,  O  Lord,  be  forgotten 
or  thy  summons  neglected,  but  let  the 
residue  of  my  life,  whatever  it  shall  be, 
be  passed  in  true  contrition,  and 
diligent  obedience.  Let  me  repent 
of  the  sins  of  my  past  years  and  so 
keep  thy  laws  for  the  time  to  come, 
that  when  it  shall  be  thy  good 
pleasure  to  call  me  to  another  state, 
I  may  find  mercy  in  thy  sight.  Let 
thy  Holy  Spirit  support  me  in  the 
hour  of  death,  and  O  Lord  grant  me 
pardon  in  the  day  of  Judgement,  for 
the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord. 
Amen.' 

To 


Aetat.  75.] 


To  John  Ryland. 


421 


1015. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 

Lichfield,  September  29,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  357. 


Dear  Sir, 


1016. 

To  John  Ryland'. 


At  my  return  hither  I  had  the  gratification  of  finding  two 
of  my  friends,  whom  I  left  as  I  thought,  about  two  months  ago, 
quite  broken  with  years  and  disease,  very  much  recovered.  It  is 
great  pleasure  to  a  sick  man  to  discover  that  sickness  is  not 
always  mortal,  so  for  age  yet  living  to  greater  age.  This  is  how- 
ever, whatever  Rochefoucault  or  Swift  may  say,  though  certainly 
part  of  the  pleasure,  yet  not  all  of  it^  I  rejoice  in  the  welfare 
of  those  whom  I  love  and  who  love  me,  and  surely  should  have 
the  same  joy  if  I  were  no  longer  subject  to  mortality.  As  a  being 
subject  to  so  many  wants,  Man  has  inevitably  a  strong  tendency 

to ,  so  I  hope  as  a  Being  capable  of  comparing  good  and 

evil  he  finds  something  to  be  preferred  in  good,  and  is  therefore 
capable  of  benevolence,  and  supposing  the  volution  of  a  good 
and  bad  man  as  to  his  own  interest  the  same,  would  rejoice  more 
in  the  prosperity  of  the  good. 

I  have  for  a  little  while  past  felt  or  imagined  some  declension 
in  my  health.  I  am  still  much  better  than  I  lately  was,  but  I  am 
a  little  afraid  of  the  cold  weather. 

You  have  not  lately  told  me  of  Payne,  in  whom  I  take  a  great 


'  First  published  in  Notes  and 
Qttertes,  5th  S.  vii.  381.  The  copyist 
seems  in  places  to  have  been  at  fault, 
for  the  meaning  is  not  always  to  be 
discovered. 

^  Swift's  lines  On  the  Death  of  Dr. 
Swift  'were  occasioned,'  he  says, 
'by  reading  the  following  maxim  in 
Rochefoucault  —  "  Dans  I'adversite 
de  nos  meilleurs  amis  nous  trou- 
vons  toujours  quekjue  chose  qui  ne 
nous  deplait  pas."'  The  following 
verses  were  perhaps  in  Johnson's 
thoughts : — 


'In  all  distresses  of  our  friends 

We  first  consult  our  private  ends  ; 

While  Nature  kindly  bent  to  ease  us 

Points   out  some  circumstance   to 

please  us. 
*  *  *  * 

Yet  should  some  neighbour  feel  a 

pain 
Just  in  the  parts  where  I  complain ; 
How    many  a  message  would    he 

send! 
What  hearty  prayers  that  I  should 

mend ! ' 
Swjft's  Works,  ed.  1803,  xi.  241, 4. 

interest 


42  2  To  John  Ryland.  [a.d.  i784. 

interest.     I  think  he  may  by  indulgence  recover,  and  that  in- 
dulgence, since  his   employers   allow  it   him  ',  he  will   be  very 
culpable  if  he  denies  himself. 
I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  humble  servant, 

Sam:  Johnson. 

Lichfield,  Sept.  2g,  1784. 

To  Mr.  Ryland,  Merchant  in  London. 

1017. 

« 

To  THE  Right  Hon.  William  Windham. 
Lichfield,  October  2,  1784,     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  362. 

1018. 

To  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
[Lichfield],  October  2,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  368. 

1019. 

To  Mr.  Perkins. 
Lichfield,  October  4,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  363. 

1020. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesbv. 
[Lichfield],  October  6,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  358. 

1021. 

Dear  Sir,  '^^  J°«^  Ryland  ^ 

I  am  glad  so  many  could  yet  meet  at  the  club,  where  I  do 
not  yet  despair  of  some  cheerful  hours.  Your  account  of  poor 
dear  Payne  makes  me  uneasy ;  if  his  distemper  were  only  the 
true  Sea  Scurvey,  it  is  incurred  easily,  and  I  believe  infallibly 
curable.  But  I  am  afraid  it  is  worse,  not  a  vitiation  of  particular 
humours,  but  a  debilitation  of  the  whole  frame,  an  effect  not  of 

'  Payne  was  Chief  Accountant  of  original  is  in  the  possession  of  the 

the  Bank  of  England.     Life,  i.  317,  Historical   Society  of  Pennsylvania, 

n.  I.  as  I  learn  from  Mr.  John  W.  Jordan 

"^  First  published  in  the  Litefary  the  Assistant- Librarian. 
Gazette  of  December  8,  1849.     The 

casualty 


Aetat.  75.]  To  Dr.  Hcberdcn.  423 

casualty  but  of  time.     I  wish  his  recovery,  and  hope  that  he 
wishes  and  prays  for  mine. 

I  have  for  some  days,  to  speak  in  the  lightest  and  softest 
language,  made  no  advances  towards  health.  My  breath  is  much 
obstructed,  and  my  limbs  are  wells  of  water.  However  I  have 
little  cause  to  complain. 

My  mind,  however,  is  calmer  than  in  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
and  I  comfort  myself  with  hopes  of  every  kind,  neither  despairing 
of  ease  in  this  world,  nor  of  happiness  in  another. 

I  shall,  I  think,  not  return  to  town  worse  than  I  left  it,  and 

unless  I  gain  ground  again,  not  much  better.     But  God,  I  humbly 

hope,  will  have  mercy  on  me. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Lichfield,  Oct.  6,  1784.  Sam  :  JOHNSON. 

To  Mr.  Ryland,  Merchant  in  London. 

1022. 

To  Dr.  Heberden  \ 

Though  I  doubt  not  but  Dr.  Brocklesby  would  communicate 
to  you  any  incident  in  the  variation  of  my  health  which  appeared 
either  curious  or  important,  yet  I  think  it  time  to  give  you  some 
account  of  myself. 

Not  long  after  the  first  great  efflux  of  the  water,  I  attained  as 
much  vigour  of  limbs  and  freedom  of  breath,  that  without  rest  or 
intermission,  I  went  with  Dr.  Brocklesby  to  the  top  of  the  painters' 
Academy  ^.  This  was  the  greatest  degree  of  health  that  I  have 
obtained,  and  this,  if  it  could  continue,  were  perhaps  sufficient ; 
but  my  breath  soon  failed,  and  my  body  grew  weak. 

At  Oxford  (in  June)  I  was  much  distressed  by  shortness  of 
breath,  so  much  that  I  never  attempted  to  scale  the  library^:  the 
water  gained  upon  me,  but  by  the  use  of  squills  was  in  a  great 
measure  driven  away. 

In  July  I  went  to  Lichfield,  and  performed  the  journey  with 

^  I  owe  the  copy  of  this  Letter  to  Croker's  Bosivell,  page  7S9. 

the  kindness  of  Mr.  Godfrey  Locker-  "^  A7ite,  ii.  393. 

Lampson,of  Rovvfant,  Crawley,  where  -^  The  Bodleian  Library,  the  ascent 

the  original  is  preserved.  The  greater  to  which  is  one  of  sixty-five  steps, 
part   of   it   had   been    published    in 


424  To  Dr.  Hebei^den.  [a.d.  i784. 

very  little  fatigue  in  the  common  vehicle,  but  found  no  help  from 
my  native  air.  I  then  removed  to  Ashbourn,  in  Derbyshire, 
where  for  some  time  I  was  oppressed  very  heavily  by  the  asthma  ; 
and  the  dropsy  had  advanced  so  far,  that  I  could  not  without 
great  difficulty  button  me  at  my  knees.  Something  was  now 
to  be  done ;  I  took  opium  as  little  as  I  could,  for  quiet  [?]  and 
squills,  as  much  as  I  could,  for  help  ;  but  in  my  medical  journal ', 
August  lo,  I  find  these  words,  nee  opio,  nee  squillis  quidquam 
sensi  [?]  efifectum.  Animus  jacet.  But  I  plied  the  vinegar  of 
squills  to  an  hundred  drops  a  day,  and  the  powder  to  4  grains. 
From  the  vinegar  I  am  not  sure  that  I  ever  perceived  any  con- 
sequence. [Here  follow  statements  of  the  effect  produced  by  these 
and  other  medicines.]  I  rose  in  the  morning  with  my  asthma 
perceptibly  mitigated,  and  walked  to  Church  that  day  with  less 
struggle  than  on  any  day  before. 

The  water  about  this  time  ran  again  away,  so  that  no  hydro- 
pical  humour  has  been  lately  visible.  The  relaxation  of  my 
breath  has  not  continued  as  it  was  jat  first.  But  neither  do  I 
breathe  with  the  same  angiisticB  and  distress  as  before  the  re- 
mission.    The  summary  of  my  state  is  this  : 

I  am  deprived  by  weakness  and  the  asthma  of  the  power  of 
walking  beyond  a  very  short  space. 

I  draw  my  breath  with  difficulty  upon  the  least  effort,  but  not 
with  suffocation  or  pain. 

The  dropsy  still  threatens,  but  gives  way  to  medicine. 

The  Summer  has  passed  without  giving  me  any  strength. 

My  appetite  is,  I  think,  less  keen  than  it  was,  but  not  so  abated 
as  that  its  decline  can  be  observed  by  any  one  but  myself  ^ 

Be  pleased  to  think  on  me  sometimes. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  obliged 

and  most  humble  servant, 

Lichfield,  Oct.  13,  1784.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

'  '  Dr.  Johnson  had  for  some  time  than  the  8th  of  November  ;  finding, 

kept  a  journal  in  Latin  of  the  state  of  I  suppose,  that  it  was  a  mournful  and 

his  illness,  and  the  remedies  which  unavailing  register.'     Life,  iv.  381. 
he   used,  under   the   title   of  jEgri  ^  Dr.  Taylor  thought    he  ate  too 

Ephcmcris,  which  he  began  on  the  much.     Post,  p.  425,  n.  3. 
6th  of  J  uly,  but  continued  it  no  longer 


To 


Aetat.  75.]  To  Fvancesco  Sastres.  425 

1023. 

To  THE  Reverend  George  Strahan  '. 

In  Messrs.  Puttick  and  Simpson's  Auction  Catalogue  of  August  20, 
1861,  Lot  625  is  a  Letter  of  Johnson  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Strahan  at  Ishngton, 
one  page  and  a  half  quarto,  from  which  the  following  extract  is  given  : — 

'Lichfield,  Oct.  19',  1784. 

I  have  hitherto  omitted  to  give  you  that  account  of  myself  which 
the  kindness  with  which  you  have  treated  me  gives  you  a  right  to  expect, 

I  went  away  feeble,  asthmatical,  and  dropsical.  The  asthma  had 
submitted  [?  remitted]  for  a  time,  but  is  now  very  troublesome,  the 
weakness  still  continues,  but  the  dropsy  has  disappeared,  and  has  since, 
in  the  summer,  yielded  to  medicine.  I  hope  to  return  with  a  body 
somewhat,  however  little,  relieved,  and  with  a  mind  less  dejected.' 

1024. 

To  THE  Right  Hon.  William  Gerard  Hamilton. 
Lichfield,  October  20,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  363. 

1025. 

To  John  Paradise. 
Lichfield,  October  20,  17S4.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  364. 

1026. 

To  John  Nichols. 
Lichfield,  October  20,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  369. 

1027. 

To  Francesco  Sastres  ^ 
Sir,  Lichfield,  October  20,  1784, 

You  have  abundance  of  naughty  tricks  ;  is  this  your  way  of 
writing  to  a  poor  sick  friend  twice  a  week  ?  Post  comes  after 
post,  and  brings  no  letter  from  Mr.  Sastres.  If  you  know  any 
thing,  write  and  tell  it ;  if  you  know  nothing,  write  and  say  that 
you  know  nothing. 

What  comes  of  the  specimen  ^  ?  If  the  booksellers  want  a  speci- 
men, in  which  a  keen  critick  can  spy  no  faults,  they  must  wait  for 

'  In   their  Auction    Catalogue   of       420),  the  date  is  given  as  Oct.  16. 
March    22,    1869,   when    the    same  -  Piozzi  Letters,  \\. /^\o. 

Letter  was  a  second  time  sold   (Lot  ^  Ante,  ii.  415,  n.  2. 

another 


426 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.    Taylor 


[A.D.  1784. 


another  generation.  Had  not  the  Crusca  '  faults  ?  Did  not  the 
Academicians  of  France  commit  many  faults  ?  It  is  enough  that 
a  dictionary  is  better  than  others  of  the  same  kind.  A  perfect 
performance  of  any  kind  is  not  to  be  expected,  and  certainly  not 
a  perfect  dictionary  ^. 

Mrs.  Desmoulines  never  writes,  and  I  know  not  how  things  go 
on  at  home ;  tell  me,  dear  Sir,  what  you  can. 

If  Mr.  Seward  be  in  town  tell  me  his  direction,  for  I  ought  to 
write  to  him. 

I  am  very  weak,  and  have  bad  nights. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam:  Johnson. 

1028. 

To  THE  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  ^ 
Dear  Sir, 

Coming  down  from  a  very  restless  night  I  found  your  letter 

which  made  me  a  little  angry.     You  tell  me  that  recovery  is  in 


'  The  Academia  della  Crusca  at 
Florence,  which  had  sent  Johnson 
their  Vocabiilario,  just  as  the  French 
Academy  sent  him  their  Dictionnaire. 
Life,  i.  298. 

^  In  the  Plan  of  an  English  Dic- 
tionary, Johnson,  writing  of  '  the 
•word perfection'  says: — 'Though  in 
its  philosophical  and  exact  sense  it 
can  be  of  little  use  among  human 
beings,  it  is  often  so  much  degraded 
from  its  original  signification,  that  the 
academicians  have  inserted  in  their 
work,  the  perfection  of  a  language, 
and,  with  a  little  more  licentiousness, 
might  have  prevailed  on  themselves 
to  have  added  the  perfection  of  a 
Dictionary!  In  the  Preface  to  the 
fourth  edition  he  writes  : — '  He  that 
undertakes  to  compile  a  Dictionary 
undertakes  that,  which  if  it  compre- 
hends the  full  extent  of  his  design,  he 
knows  himself  unable  to  perform.' 
Works,  v.  16,  52. 

'  First  published  in  the  Catalogue 


of  Mr.  Alfred  Morrison's  Autographs, 
volume  ii,  page  343.  This  letter  is 
endorsed  by  Dr.  Taylor  : — '  This 
is  the  last  letter.  My  answer,  which 
were  the  words  of  advice  he  gave  to 
Mr.  Thrale  the  day  he  dyed,  he 
resented  extremely  from  me.'  The 
substance  of  the  advice  which  John- 
son gave  I  found  in  the  original  MS. 
of  his  Diary  in  Pembroke  College 
Library.  It  is  as  follows  :  —  '  On 
Sunday  ist,  the  physician  warned 
him  against  full  meals,  on  Monday  I 
pressed  him  to  observance  of  his 
rules,  but  without  effect,  and  Tuesday 
I  was  absent,  but  his  wife  pressed 
forbearance  upon  him  again  unsuc- 
cessfully. At  night  I  was  called  to 
him,  and  found  him  senseless  in 
strong  convulsions.'  Mrs.  Piozzi  had 
heard  of  Taylor's  letter,  for  she 
writes  :  —  '  Dr.  Johnson  quarrelled 
with  his  truest  friend,  Dr.  Taylor,  for 
recommending  to  him  a  degree  of 
temperance  by  which  alone  his  life 

my 


Aetat.  75.]  To  Fvancesco  Sastres.  427 


my  power.  This  indeed  I  should  be  glad  to  hear,  if  I  could 
once  believe  it.  But  you  mean  to  charge  me  with  neglecting  or 
opposing  my  own  health.  Tell  me  therefore  what  I  do  that 
hurts  me,  and  what  I  neglect  that  would  help  me.  Tell  it  as 
soon  as  you  can  [Here  a  piece  of  the  letter  is  torn  off.]  I  would 
do  it  the  sooner  for  your  desires,  and  I  hope  to  do  it  now  in  no 
long  time,  but  shall  hardly  do  it  here.  I  hope  soon  to  be  at 
London.     Answer  the  first  part  of  this  letter  immediately. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  sei"vant, 
Lichfield,  Oct.  23,  1784.  SaM  :  JOHXSON. 

To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Taylor  in  Ashbourn,  Derbyshire. 

1029. 

To  Dr.  Brocklesby. 
[Lichfield],  October  25,  1784.    Published  in  part  in  the  Life.,  iv.  358. 

1030. 

To  Dr.  Burney. 
[Lichfield],  November  1,  1784.    Published  in  part  in  the  Life.,  iv.  361. 

1031. 

To  Francesco  Sastres  ^ 
Dear  Sir,  Lichfield,  Nov.  I,  1784. 

I  beg  you  to  continue  the  frequency  of  your  letters ;  every 
letter  is  a  cordial ;  but  you  must  not  wonder  that  I  do  not 
answer  with  exact  punctuality.  You  may  always  have  something 
to  tell :  you  live  among  the  various  orders  of  mankind,  and  may 
make  a  letter  from  the  exploits,  sometimes  of  the  philosopher, 
and  sometimes  of  the  pickpocket "".  You  see  some  ballons  succeed 
and  some  miscarry,  and  a  thousand  strange  and  a  thousand  foolish 
things.  But  I  see  nothing ;  I  must  make  my  letter  from  what  I  feel, 
and  what  I  feel  with  so  little  delight,  that  I  cannot  love  to  talk  of  it. 

could  have  been  saved,  and  recom-  ing  of  a  balloon  in  St.  George's  Fields 
mending  it  in  his  own  unaltered  '  a  more  ample  harvest  for  the  pick- 
phrase  too.'  Piozzi  Letters,  n. -^^i.  pockets  never  was  presented.  Some 
'  Piozsi  Letters,  \\.  i[\7..  noblemen  and  gentlemen  lost  their 
^  The  two  orders  sometimes  met.  watches  and  many  their  purses.' 
For  instance,  this  year  at  the  launch-  Centlettiati s  Magazine,  1784,  p.  228. 

I  am 


428 


To  John  Ryland. 


[A.D.  1784. 


I  am  certainly  not '  to  come  to  town,  but  do  not  omit  to  write  ; 
for  I  know  not  when  I  shall  come,  and  the  loss  of  a  letter  is  not 
much.  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your,  &c., 

Sam  :  Johnson. 


1032. 

To  John  Ryland^. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  just  received  a  letter  in  which  you  tell  me  that  you 
love  to  hear  from  me,  and  I  value  such  a  declaration  too  much 
to  neglect  it.  To  have  a  friend,  and  a  friend  like  you,  may  be 
numbered  amongst  the  first  felicities  of  life  ;  at  a  time  when 
weakness  either  of  body  or  mind  loses  the  pride  and  the  con- 
fidence of  self-sufficiency,  and  looks  round  for  that  help  which 
perhaps  human  kindness  cannot  give,  and  which  we  yet  are 
willing  to  expect  from  one  another. 

I  am  at  this  time  very  much  dejected.  The  water  gains  fast 
upon  me,  but  it  has  invaded  me  twice  in  this  last  half  year,  and 
has  been  twice  expelled  :  it  will,  I  hope,  give  way  to  the  same 
remedies. 

My  Breath  is  tolerably  easy,  and  since  the  remission  of  asthma 
about  two  months  ago,  have  \sic\  never  been  so  strait  and  so 
much  obstructed  as  it  once  was. 

I  took  this  day  a  very  uncommon  dose  of  squills,  but  hitherto 
without  effect,  but  I  will  continue  their  use  very  diligently.  Let 
me  have  your  prayers. 

I  am  now  preparing  myself  for  my  return,  and  do  not  despair 
of  some  more  monthly  meetings  ^  To  hear  that  dear  Payne  is 
better  gives  me  great  delight. 


'  Not  is  either  a  misprint  or  was 
inserted  by  mistake. 

-  First  published  in  the  Catalogue 
of  Mr,  Alfred  Morrison's  Autographs, 
volume  ii,  page  344. 

The  handwriting  shows  great 
feebleness  in  the  writer. 

^  Of  the  old  Ivy  Lane  Club.  Ante, 
ii.  358.     On  October  25  he  wrote  :  — 


'  The  town  is  my  element ;  there  are 
my  friends,  there  are  my  books,  to 
which  I  have  not  yet  bid  farewell, 
and  there  are  my  amusements.'  Life, 
iv.  358.  '  The  town  is  my  element ' 
is  perhaps  an  adaptation  of  '  his 
shop  is  his  element '  in  South's 
Sermons,  ed.  1823,  i.  20. 

I  saw 


Aetat.  75.]  To    Siv  Jo/lU    HcUukiltS.  429 

I  saw  the  draught  of  the  stone.  I  am  afraid  the  date  is  wrong. 
I  think  it  should  be  52  '.  We  will  have  it  rectified.  You  say 
nothing  of  the  cash  but  that  you  have  paid  it.  My  intention 
was  the  \sic\  Mr.  Payne  should  have  put  into  your  hands  fifteen 
pounds  which  he  received  for  me  at  Midsummer^.  If  he  has  not 
done  it,  I  will  order  you  the  money  which  is  in  his  hands. 

Shall  I  ever  be  able  to  bear  the  sight  of  this  stone  ?  In  your 
company  I  hope  I  shall.  You  will  not  wonder  that  I  write  no 
more.     God  bless  you  for  Christ's  sake. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
Lichfield,  Nov.  4,  1784.  Sa.M  :  JOHNSON. 

1033. 

To  James  Boswell. 

Lichfield,  November  5,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  380. 

1034. 

To  Sir  John  Hawkins  ^. 

Lichfield,  November  7,  1784. 

I  am  relapsing  into  the  dropsy  very  fast,  and  shall  make  such 

haste  to  town  that  it  will  be  useless  to  write  to  me  ;  but  when  I 

come,  let  me  have  the  benefit  of  your  advice,  and  the  consolation 

of  your  company. 

1035. 

To  Mrs.  Aston  and  Mrs.  Gastrell'*. 

[Lichfield,  .''November,  17S4.] 
Mr.  Johnson  sends  his  compliments  to  the  Ladies  at  Stowhill, 

'  The  gravestone  on  his  wife.     He  says    that    Johnson    wrote    to    him 

had   given   the   wrong    date   in    his  several   letters   from  Lichfield.      Of 

Letter    to     Mr.    Bagshav/.       Ante,  the  last  of  these  the  above  is  the  con- 

ii.  410,  n.  I,  eluding  paragraph. 

""  No  doubt  the  half-year's  dividend  ■*  From  the  original  in  Pembroke 

on  '  the  one  thousand  pounds,  three  College  Library, 

per  cent,  annuities  in  the  public  funds'  On  the  back  of  the  Letter  is  the 

mentioned   in  Johnson's  will.     Life,  following   note : — '  Probably  written 

iv,  402,  7t.   2.     Mr.  Payne  was  the  in  1784  on  his  departure  from  Lich- 

Chief  Accountant    of   the   Bank   of  field.' 

England.  Johnson  on    his  way  to   London 

^  First    published     in    Hawkins's  passed    through    Birmingham     and 

Life  ofjolmson,  page  576.     Hawkins  Oxford,  making  a  brief  stay  at  both 

of 


430 


To  the  Reverend  Dr.  Vyse.  [a.d.  i784. 


of  whom  he  would  have  taken  a  more  formal  leave,  but  that  he 
was  willing  to  spare  a  ceremony,  which  he  hopes  would  have 
been  no  pleasure  to  them,  and  would  have  been  painful  to  him- 
self. 

1036. 

To  Dr.  Burney. 
London,  November  i6,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  377. 

1037. 

To  Edmund  Hector. 
London,  November  17,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  378. 

1038. 

To  


~  [?  November,  1784.] 

In  Messrs.  Puttick  and  Simpson's  Auction  Catalogue  of  March  14, 
1866,  Lot  181  is  a  Letter  of  Johnson  '  ordering  a  parcel  of  books  to  be 
sent  to  Dr.  Adams,  written  after  his  return  from  a  visit  to  the  doctor 
(the  last  he  paid),  1784.'  The  last  visit  paid  by  Dr.  Johnson  to  Dr. 
Adams  was  towards  the  middle  of  November,  1784.  It  is  not  unlikely 
however  that  this  letter  was  written  after  his  previous  visit,  and  should 
follow  the  Letter  of  July  11,  ante,  p.  410. 

1039. 

Sir  ^'^  '^"^  Reverend  Dr.  Vyse  \  in  Lambeth. 

I   am   desirous    to   know  whether   Charles    Scrimshaw,  of 


places.  William  Hutton,  the  book- 
seller and  antiquary,  not  three  weeks 
later  took  the  same  road  from  Bir- 
mingham to  London.  He  started  at 
seven  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the 
first  of  December,  and  reached  his 
journey's  end  at  two  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  following  day.  He  was  drawn, 
he  says,  by  thirty-six  horses,  so  that 
there  must  have  been  nine  changes  in 
the  120  miles.  He  was  the  only 
passenger,  and  as  the  cold  was  very 
severe  the  guard  asked  permission  to 
ride  inside.  '  He  was  armed  with  a 
brace  of  pistols  and  a  blunderbuss, 
and   he   dwelt   largely   on   his   own 


courage ;  said  that  he  could  protect 
a  coach  when  others  could  not  ;  had 
saved  his  own  when  another  was 
robbed  ;  had  often  driven  the  rogues 
to  a  distance,  now  and  then  sent  one 
to  the  shades.'  Button's  fotir?Ziy  to 
London,  ed.  181 8,  p.  6.  If  Johnson 
went  by  the  same  coach  to  London 
all  this  talk  was  no  doubt  poured 
into  the  ears  of  black  Frank  as  he  sat 
outside. 

'  First  published  in  Malone's  Bos- 
well. 

Malone  states  :— '  In  conformity  to 
the  wish  expressed  in  the  preceding 
letter,  an  inquiry  was  made  ;  but  no 

Woodsease 


Aetat.  75.] 


To  J olin  Nichols. 


431 


Woodsease  (I  think),  in  your  father's  neighbourhood,  be  now 
living ;  what  is  his  condition  and  where  he  may  be  found.  If 
you  can  conveniently  make  any  inquiry  about  him,  and  can  do 
it  without  delay,  it  will  be  an  act  of  great  kindness  to  me,  he  being 
very  nearly  related  to  me.     I  beg  [you]  to  pardon  this  trouble. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 
Bolt-court,  Fleet-street,  Nov.  29,  1784.  SaM  :  JOHNSON. 

1040. 

To  Richard  Green. 
[London],  December  2,  1784.     Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  393. 

1041. 

To  Mrs.  Porter. 
[London],  December  2,  1784.    Published  in  the  Life,  iv.  394. 

1042. 

To  John  Nichols  '. 
The  late   learned  Mr.  Swinton  ^  having  one  day  remarked 


descendants  of  Charles  Scrimshaw  or 
of  his  sisters  were  discovered  to  be 
living.  Dr.  Vyse  informs  me,  that 
Dr.  Johnson  told  him,  "  he  was  dis- 
appointed in  the  inquiries  he  had 
made  after  his  relations."  There  is 
therefore  no  ground  whatsoever  for 
supposing  that  he  was  unmindful  of 
them,  or  neglected  them.' 

Hawkins  says  that  Johnson  had 
executed  a  will  so  far  as  to  secure  an 
annuity  for  his  servant,  Frank  Barber. 
'  1  found,'  writes  Hawkins,  '  that  the 
residue  of  his  estate  would  be  some- 
thing considerable,  and  I  told  him 
that  he  would  do  well  to  bequeath  it 
to  his  relations.  His  answer  was, 
*'  I  care  not  what  becomes  of  the 
residue." '  Hawkins's  Johnson,  p. 
576.     See  also  ib.,  p.  599. 

'  First  published  in  Malone's  Bos- 
well. 

In  the  Register  of  Books  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  for  July,  1 740, 


p.  360,  is  '  An  Universal  History  from 
the  earlier  Account  of  Time  to  the 
present.  In  five  volumes  in  folio. 
Price  ;^io  los.  6d.'  In  the  Register 
of  Books  for  March,  1749,  p.  144,  is 
'  Universal  History  in  8vo.,  vol.  20, 
and  last.     Price  ^s.  in  boards.' 

Gibbon,  writing  of  his  youth, 
says  : — '  My  indiscriminate  appetite 
[in  reading]  subsided  by  degrees  in 
the  historic  line  ;  and  since  philo- 
sophy has  exploded  all  innate  ideas 
and  natural  propensities,  I  must 
ascribe  this  choice  to  the  assiduous 
perusal  of  the  Universal  History 
as  the  octavo  volumes  successively 
appeared.  This  unequal  work,  and 
a  treatise  of  Hearne,  the  Dtcctor 
historicus,  referred  and  introduced 
me  to  the  Greek  and  Roman  histo- 
rians, to  as  many  at  least  as  were 
accessible  to  an  English  reader.'  Gib- 
bon's Misc.  Works,  i.  41. 

-  Thomas  Warton  in  his  account 

that 


432 


To  John  Nichols. 


[A.D.  1784. 


that  one  man,  meaning,  I  suppose,  no  man  but  himself,  could 
assign  all  the  parts  of  the  Ancient  Universal  History  to  their 
proper  authors,  at  the  request  of  Sir  Robert  Chambers,  or  of 
myself,  gave  the  account  which  I  now  transmit  to  you  in  his 
own  hand  ;  being  willing  that  of  so  great  a  work  the  history 
should  be  known,  and  that  each  writer  should  receive  his  due 
proportion  of  praise  from  posterity. 

I  recommend  to  you  to  preserve  this  scrap  of  literary  intelli- 
gence in  Mr.  Swinton^s  own  hand,  or  to  deposit  it  in  the  Museum, 
that  the  veracity  of  this  account  may  never  be  doubted. 

I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

Dec.  6,  1784.  Sam  :  JOHNSON. 

Mr.  S N. 

The  History  of  the  Carthaginians.  Numidians.  Mauritanians. 
Gsetulians.  Garamanthes.  Melano  Gstulians.  Nigritae.  Cyrenaica. 
Marmarica.  Regio  Syrtica.  Turks,  Tartars,  and  Moguls.  Indians. 
Chinese. 

Dissertation  on  the  peopling  of  America. 

independency  of  the  Arabs  \ 

The  Cosmogony,  and  a  small  part  of  the  History  immediately  fol- 
lowing ;  by  Mr.  Sale  ^. 

To  the  birth  of  Abraham  ;  chiefly  by  Mr.  Shelvock. 


of  Johnson's  visit  to  Oxford  in  1754 
says  : — '  About  this  time  there  had 
been  an  execution  of  two  or  three 
criminals  at  Oxford  on  a  Monday. 
Soon  afterwards,  one  day  at  dinner, 
I  was  saying  that  Mr.  Swinton  the 
chaplain  of  the  gaol,  and  also  a  fre- 
quent preacher  before  the  University, 
a  learned  man,  but  often  thoughtless 
and  absent,  preached  the  condemna- 
tion-sermon on  repentance,  before 
the  convicts,  on  the  preceding  day, 
Sunday  ;  and  that  in  the  close  he 
told  his  audience,  that  he  should  give 
them  the  remainder  of  what  he  had  to 
say  on  the  subject,  the  next  Lord's 
Day.  Upon  which,  one  of  our  com- 
pany, a  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  a 


offering  an  apology  for  Mr.  Swinton, 
gravely  remarked,  that  he  had  prob- 
ably preached  the  same  sermon 
before  the  University  :  "  Yes,  Sir, 
(says  Johnson)  but  the  University 
were  not  to  be  hanged  the  next  morn- 
ing.'" Life^  i.  273.  John  Swinton 
died  in  1777,  and  is  buried  in 
the  chapel  of  Wadham  College. 
Chalmers's  Biog.  Diet.,  xxix.  70. 

'  '  A  nameless  doctor  ( Universal 
History,  vol.  xx,  octavo  edition)  has 
formally  dononstrated  the  truth  of 
Christianity  by  the  independence  of 
the  Arabs.'  Dccli?ie  afid  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  ed.  1807,  ix. 
202,  n.  21. 

-  George  Sale,  the  translator  of  the 


plain  matter-of-fact  man,  by  way  of      Koran. 


History 


Aetat.  75.]  To  M7's.  SU'akau.  43 


oo 


History  of  the  Jews,  Gauls,  and  Spaniards;  by  Mr.  Psalmanazar '. 
Xenophon's  Retreat ;  by  the  same. 

History  of  the  Persians  and  the  Constantinopohtan  Empire ;  by  Dr. 
Campbell. 

History  of  the  Romans ;  by  Mr.  Bower. 

1043. 

( TVw  undated  Letters^ 

To  Mrs.  Strahan. 

In  Messrs.  Sotheby  and  Co.'s  Auction  Catalogue  of  August  21,  1872, 
Lot  113  is  a  Letter  of  Johnson  to  Mrs.  Strahan.  'Sept.  20.  Postponing 
an  invitation,  "  I  had  forgotten  that  I  had  myself  invited  a  friend  to 
dine  with."  &c.' 

To . 

In  the  Catalogue  of  the  same  firm  of  May  10,  1875,  Lot  104  is  a 
Letter  of  Johnson,  'one  page  quarto,  dated  Nov.  29,  respecting  a  proof 
sheet  in  which  he  wished  to  alter  one  word  only.'  It  was  sold  for 
^28.. 

Bolt  Court,  December  13,  1784. 

In  Messrs.  Puttick  and  Simpson's  Auction  Catalogue  of  July  8,  1859, 
Lot  225  is  'an  autograph  of  Johnson  to  a  receipt  for  £75,  being  one 
quarter's  pension,  Dec.  13,  1784.'  If  the  date  is  correctly  given  we 
have  here  in  all  likelihood  the  last  words  written  by  Johnson,  for  about 
seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  that  day  he  died. 

'He  died,'  writes  J.  T.  Smith,  'in  the  back-room  of  the  first  floor  of 
his  house  in  Bolt  Court,  of  which  room  I  made  a  drawing,  just  before 
Mr.  Bensley  the  printer  pulled  that  part  of  the  house  down,  to  make 
way  for  a  staircase.  There  is  not  a  vestige  of  the  original  house  now 
remaining.'     JVol/ekens  and  his  Titfies,  ed.  1828,  i.  132. 

In  M.uxr3.y''s  Johnsoniana,  ed.  1836,  p.  82,  is  a  print  from  a  sketch  by 
Smith  of '  Dr.  Johnson's  sitting-room  in  Bolt  Court.'  It  is  possible  that 
in  his  last  illness  his  bed  was  moved  into  this  room. 

William  Hutton,  who  left  London  for  Birmingham  on  the  night  of 
December  12,  describes  how  'our  bill  of  lading  being  completed  we 
began  to  roll  over  one-hundred-and-twenty  miles  of  snow  without  any 
noise  but  that  of  the  wheels^.'  As  the  coach  went  silently  on  through  a 
wintry  world  Johnson's  spirit  passed  away. 

Among  the  manuscripts  of  the  British  Museum  are  the  following 
documents  relating  to  the  funeral : — 

'  See  Life,  iii.  443. 

*  W.  WMlioTLS  Joitrney  to  London,  ed.  1818,  p.  133. 
VOL.  II.  F  f  Sir 


434 


Documefits  relating- 


[A.D.  1784. 


'  Sir, — The  Executors  of  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  request  the 
favor  of  your  attendance  on  Monday  next,  the  20th  of  December  inst., 
at  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  at  the  Doctor's  late  Dwelling-house  in  Bolt 
Court,  Fleet  Street,  to  accompany  the  corpse  from  thence  to  West- 
minster Abbey. 

1 8th  December,  i784\' 

II. 

List  of  those  present  at  the  Funeral'^ : — 


Dr.  Burney. 

Sastres.         vi. 

Sir  J.  Hawkins. 

Dr.  Wright. 

Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

Ryland. 

Dr.  Scott.         i. 

Malone. 

Sir  J.  Banks. 

Dr.  Farmer.         vii. 

Colman. 

Gen.  Paoli. 

Dr.  Broklesbury  [Brocklesby.' 

Horsley. 

Hoole.         ii. 

Count  Zenobia. 

Nicholls.  [Nichols." 

Sir  Charles  Bunbury.         viii. 

Seward. 

Cruickshank  [CruikshankJ. 

Frank  [Francis  Barber. 

Medcalf  [Metcalfe.' 

Lowe.         iii. 

Dr.  Butter.         ix. 

Du  Moulins  [Desmoulins.' 

Mr.  Nicol. 

Burke. 

Rev.  S.  Hoole. 

Burke,  j^. 

Mr.  Mickle. 

Wyndham.          iv.   [Windham.' 

C.  B.  [?  Charles  Burney.]         xi. 

Holder. 

Mr.  Henderson. 

Cooke. 

Rev.  Mr.  East. 

G.  Strahan. 

Rev.  Mr.  Shanvelle.  [?^ 

Rev.  Mr.  Butt.         v. 

Mr.  Sharp.         xii. 

Paradise. 

Fifteen  Gentlemen. 

Langton. 

Coaches    [?   Fifteen   Gentlemen's 

Steevens. 

coaches." 

Pall  Bearers  : — 

Sir  J.  Banks. 

W.  Wyndham  [Windham.' 

Sir  C.  Bunbury. 

Langton. 

E.  Burke. 

G.  Colman. 

•  Nichols    MSS.      The   card  no 

Nichols,  the  editor  of  the  Ge7itleman's 

doubt   was  the  one    sent   to    John 

Magazine.         =  Add.  MSS.  33,498. 

Extract 

Aetat.  75.]  to  Dv,  Jolifisoii  s  Funeral.  435 

'  Extract  from  St.  James'  Chronicle  the  day  after  Johnson's  funeral ' : — 

"  The  Procession  consisted  of  a  Hearse  and  six,  with  the  corpse  and 

twelve  mourning  coaches  and  four.     It  set  out  from  Bolt  Court  a  few 

minutes  after  twelve  o'clock,  followed  by  several  gentlemen's  carriages. 

At  one  o'clock  the  corpse  arrived  at  the  Abbey.'" 

Among  all  the  mourners  there  was  only  one  man  of  hereditary  title — 
Sir  Charles  Bunbury.  '  The  great  lords  and  great  ladies  who  did  not 
love  to  have  their  mouths  stopped  ^ '  neglected  him  to  the  last.  Far 
different  had  been  the  scene  at  Garrick's  funeral. 

'  Through  weeping  London's  crowded  streets, 

As  Garrick's  funeral  passed, 
Contending  wits  and  nobles  strove, 

Who  should  forsake  him  last  \' 

But  he  who  was  followed  to  his  last  resting-place  by  Reynolds  and 
Burke  did  not  go  unhonoured  to  his  grave. 


3 


Add.  MSS.  33,498.  =  Life,  iv.  116. 

Bishop   George  Home's  Essays  and  Thoughts,  ed.  1808,  p.  283. 


F  f  2 


APPENDIX   A. 

{Page  179.) 

To  the  kindness  of  Sir  E.  H.  Bunbury,  of  Barton  Hall,  Bury  St. 
Edmunds,  I  owe  the  following  copy  of  a  document  in  his  possession 
endorsed  by  Sir  H.  E.  Bunbury  who  died  in  i860  : — 

'  Autograph  of  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson.  Draft  of  a  Petition  sketched  at 
the  desire  of  my  Grandmother  for  a  poor  woman  at  Plymouth.' 

To  THE   Kings  most   Excellent  Majesty  the  Humble  Petition 
of Hunt. 

Your  Majestys  Petitioner  begs  leave  with  all  humility  to  inform  you  that 
she  is  the  Widow  of  Edward  Hunt  of  your  Majestys  yard  Plymouth  who 
died  nineteen  years  ago,  and  left  her  with  eight  young  children  whom  she 
has  maintained  and  educated. 

That  being  now  advanced  in  years,  she  has  been  for  some  time  supported 
by  her  son  Joseph  Hunt  late  Captain  of  your  ]\Iajestys  ship  Unicorn. 

That  her  son  was  killed  January  the  eighth  in  an  Engagement  with  the 
Vestal  a  noted  Frigate  of  superior  force,  which  he  live  \_sic\  to  take  and  then 
expired,  leaving  his  Mother  without  any  provision  for  her  declining  years. 

She  therefore  humbly  applies  herself  to  the  known  goodness  of  your 
Majesty,  hoping  for  such  relief  of  her  distress  as  to  your  Majesty  shall  seem 
proper. 


APPENDIX  B. 

{Page  261.) 

Dr.  William  Hunter  died  on  March  30  of  the  following  year.  Bos- 
well  writing  of  that  day  says  : — 

'  I  found  him  at  home  in  the  evening,  and  had  the  pleasure  to  meet  with 
Dr.  Brocklesby,  whose  reading,  and  knowledge  of  life,  and  good  spirits, 
supply  him  with  a  never-failing  source  of  conversation.  He  mentioned 
a  respectable  gentleman,  who  became  extremely  penurious  near  the  close  of 
his  life.  Johnson  said  there  must  have  been  a  degree  of  madness  about  him, 
"  Not  at  all,  Sir,  (said  Dr.  Brocklesby,)  his  judgement  was  entire."  Unluckily, 

however, 


Appendix  B.  437 


however,  he  mentioned  that  although  he  had  a  fortune  of  twenty-seven 
thousand  pounds,  he  denied  himself  many  comforts,  from  an  apprehension 
that  he  could  not  afford  them.  "  Nay,  Sir,  (cried  Johnson,)  when  the  judge- 
ment is  so  disturbed  that  a  man  cannot  count,  that  is  pretty  well.'"  Life, 
iv,  176. 

The  following  curious  manuscript  note  in  my  possession,  which  is, 
no  doubt,  Dr.  Brocklesby's  record  of  the  conversation  of  this  evening, 
shows  that  the  respectable  but  penurious  gentleman  was  the  famous 
physician,  William  Hunter. 

'At  Dr.  Johnson's,  with  J.  Boswell,  Esq.,  30th  March,  1783,  when  Dr. 
Hunter  dyed. 

*  S.  J.  bom  in  1709,  his  mother  in  1665  the  daughter  of  a  little  Warwick- 
shire Gent.  [?J  the  oldest  people  in  her  childhood  had  seldom  learnt  to  read*. 
• — Dr.  Hunter  fell  a  sacrifice  to  his  last  Lecture — spent  _;^ioo,ooo  on  his 
Collection,  nothing  on  Himself — advised  by  S.  J.  to  leave  it  to  Glasgow  where 
he  was  born  and  bred — proposed  to  have  built  his  Anatomy  of  an  Elephant 
in  the  Centre  of  his  Museum  which  would  have  fixed  the  place  unalterably. 
—  Opiate  never  destructive  of  S.  J's.  Readiness  in  Conversation  this  very 
circumstance  I  have  observed — ought  to  beware  from  Hunter's  Death  of 
trifling  with  his  Gout  as  that  Author's  [?]  ended  by  pertinaciously  giving  his 
last  Lecture  in  a  paroxysm  of  that  Disease. 

'S.J.  maintained  against  Boswell  that  knowledge  should  be  universally 
taught,  because  no  man  was  sorry  that  he  had  acquired  knowledge,  or  wished 
to  unbare  [?]  the  Genius  given  Him  and  the  Ground  must  be  always  tilled, 
and  the  Conveniencies  of  Life  be  manufactured,  but  it  was  not  fair  to  restrict 
any  Sett  of  Men  to  tilling  the  Ground  and  making  Clothes  &c. — Genius 
should  have  a  fair  Chance  whenever  it  was  born— it  was  not  born  Every  Day 
— yet  Solomon  says  "  he  that  encreaseth  Knowledge  encreaseth  Sorrow," 
and  Johnson  has  put  many  Syllables  of  Sadness  together  in  a  like  strain 
formerly. 

*  'Only  3  or  4  public  Schools  before  Ed.  6  and  Eliz. — no  free  Schools  royally 
endowed  or  chartered  afterwards  — Only  i  Bp.  of  Westminster  and  he  spent  the 
Revenues — Fakenham,  Abbot  of  Westm"'  appointed  afterwards  by  Q.  Mary  preached 
her  funeral  Sermon  and  sat  in  the  first  parls.  of  Elizabeth — another  preacher  of  Mary's 
funeral  Sermon  comforted  his  audience  on  the  virtues  of  her  Successor  by  observing 
that  "  a  living  dog  was  better  than  a  dead  Lion."  ' 

Dr.  Brocklesby  met  Lord  Mansfield  one  night  at  supper.  '  They  inter- 
changed some  stories  a  little  trenching  on  decorum.  It  so  happened  that 
the  Doctor  had  to  appear  next  morning  before  Lord  Mansfield  in  the  witness 
box  ;  when,  on  the  strength  of  last  night's  doings,  the  witness  nodded  with 
offensive  familiarity  to  the  Chief  Justice  as  to  a  boon  companion.  His  Lord- 
ship, taking  no  notice  of  his  salutation,  but  writing  down  his  evidence,  when 
he  came  to  summing  it  up  to  the  jury,  thus  proceeded  : — "The  next  witness 
is  one  Rocklesby  or  Brocklesby,  Brocklesby  or  Rocklesby, — I  am  not  sure 
which,— and  first,  he  swears  that  he  is  a  Physician.'"  Campbell's  Lives  of 
the  Chief  Justices^  ed.  1849,  ii-  57°- 

APPENDIX 


438  Appendix  C. 


APPENDIX   C. 

{Page  413.) 

The  following  anecdotes  I  owe  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Falconer 
Madan,  Fellow  of  Brasenose  College  and  Sub-Librarian  of  the  Bodleian, 
who  found  them  in  Dr.  Philip  Bliss's  manuscript  note  book  preserved 
in  that  Library ;  Vol.  X,  MS.  Eng.  Misc.  e.  8.  p.  4. 

'  Anecdotes  of  Samuel  Johnson  never  published. 

L 

'When  engaged  on  some  literary  research  the  Dr.  was  very  anxious  to 
procure  some  information  relative  to  one  of  the  fathers,  and  failing  himself, 
commissioned  his  friend  Nicol,  the  King's  bookseller,  to  continue  the  enquiry, 
and  if  possible  provide  him  with  the  account  of  which  he  stood  in  need. 
Meeting  George  Nicol  shortly  after  in  a  party  at  dinner,  where  was  some 
man  of  Pembroke  (his  own  college)  no  great  favourite  with  Johnson,  the  Dr. 
cried  out,  "  Well,  Sir,"  to  Nicol,  "  and  what  success  have  you  had  in  your 
searches  after  Petrus  de  Maximis?"  "None,  Dr.,"  said  Nicol,  "I  have 
hunted  high  and  low,  looked  in  every  book  I  can  find,  and  can  make  nothing 
of  it."  "  Petrus  Maximus !  "  said  the  Pembroke  divine,  "  I  never  heard  of 
him  before."  "  I  dare  say  not,  Sir,"  said  Johnson  with  his  accustomed  rough- 
ness ;  "  his  name  is  not  on  your  college  buttery  book."  ' 

Mr.  G.  K.  Fortescue,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Reading  Room  of 
the  British  Museum,  in  reply  to  my  inquiry  about  Petrus  de  Maximis 
has  sent  me  the  following  note : — 

'  The  only  person  I  can  find  in  the  whole  range  of  literature  named  Peter 
de  Maximis  (I  suppose  the  name  really  is  Pietro  dei  Massimi;  a  great  Roman 
family)  is  one  of  two  brothers  De  Maximis,  who  gave  a  home  to  the  printers 
Sweynheym  and  Pannartz  in  Rome  in  1467.' 

Mr.  Fortescue  sends  me  an  extract  from  Panzer's  Annales  Typog., 
Norimb.,  1794,  ii.  413,  in  which  are  given  the  following  verses  in  an 
edition  of  Strabo  printed  in  1469  : — 

'  Aspicis  illustris  lector  quicunque  libellos 
Si  cupis  artificum  nomina  nosse :    lege  &c. 
Conrardus  suueynheym  :    Arnoldus  pannartzque  magistrl 

Rome  impresserunt  talia  multa  simul. 
Petrus  cum  fratre  Francisco  maximus  ambo 
Huic  operi  aptatam  contribuere  domum.' 

Johnson 


Appendix  D.  439 


II. 

'  Johnson  was  famous  for  an  assertion  that  no  man  ever  laboured  for 
labour's  sake,  but  that  all,  whatever  were  their  pursuits,  followed  them  from 
motives  of  interest,  however  they  might  disguise  the  real  end  from  themselves 
or  others.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  knowing  that  this  was  a  favourite  subject, 
and  much  wishing  to  draw  the  Dr.  out  before  a  large  party  of  ladies,  com- 
menced his  address  to  him  with  : — "  Well,  Dr.,  I  have  been  the  whole  day 
engaged  on  a  picture  which  has  delighted  me  ;  I  never  laboured  so  long  with 
so  great  and  unmingled  pleasure."  "  I  beg  your  pardon.  Sir,"  retorted 
Johnson ;  "  your  pleasure  was  not  derived  from  your  labour,  but  from 
the  reward  you  expect  to  derive  from  it.  It  was  your  interest  made  you 
pleased  with  your  occupation," — and  a  great  deal  more  to  the  same  effect, 
completely  falling  into  Sir  Joshua's  scheme,  and  amusing  the  whole  company 
with  his  declamation.  At  last  turning  to  the  ladies  he  expressed  himself 
fearful  they  must  have  been  tired  by  so  long  a  discourse  on  so  dry  a  subject, 
but  added  he,  "  Ladies,  I  can  at  once  illustrate  all  I  have  been  saying  to  Sir 
Joshua,  and  render  my  meaning  perfectly  intelligible  to  you,  by  remarking 
that  when  Leander  swam  the  Hellespont  he  did  not  do  so  from  a  love  of 
swimming." ' 

For  labouring  for  labour's  sake,  see  the  Life,  ii.  98  ;  iii.  19  ;  iv.  219.  South 
had  said : — '  Men  do  not  use  to  run,  only  that  they  may  run,  but  that  they 
may  obtain  ;  labour  itself  being  certainly  one  of  the  worst  rewards  of 
a  man's  pains.' — South's  Sermons,  &6..  1823,  iii.  137.  Burke,  in  his  Essay 
on  the  Stiblitne  and Beaictiful,  part  iv.  sect.  6,  maintains  that  'Providence  has 
so  ordered  it  that  a  state  of  rest  and  inaction,  however  it  may  flatter  our 
indolence,  should  be  productive  of  many  inconveniencies  ;  that  it  should 
generate  such  disorders  as  may  force  us  to  have  recourse  to  some  labour,  as 
a  thing  absolutely  requisite  to  make  us  pass  our  lives  with  tolerable  satisfac- 
tion.' In  the  next  section  he  describes  'common  labour'  as  'a  mode  of 
pain.' 


APPENDIX   D. 

{Page  420.) 

From  the  Diary  of  the  Right  Hon.  William  Windhain  (p.  17)  I  have 
selected  the  following  notes  among  those  which  he  made  of  Dr.  Johnson's 
conversation  at  Ashbourne  at  the  end  of  August  1784. 

The  principle  of  all  amusements  is  to  beguile  time  and  fill  the  interval 
between  active  thought  and  perfect  vacuity. 

The 


440  Appendix  D. 


The  source  of  every  thing,  in  or  out  of  nature,  that  can  serve  the  pur- 
pose of  poetry,  is  to  be  found  in  Homer  ; — every  species  of  distress,  every 
modification  of  heroic  character,  battles,  storms,  ghosts,  incantations,  &c. 
Dr.  Johnson  said  he  had  never  read  through  the  Odyssey  completely  in  the 
original. 

Anecdote  of  his  first  declamation  at  College  ;  that  having  neglected 
to  write  it  till  the  morning  of  his  being  to  repeat  it,  and  having  only  one  copy, 
he  got  part  of  it  by  heart,  while  he  was  walking  into  the  Hall,  and  the  rest  he 
supplied  as  well  as  he  could  extempore. 

Description  of  himself  as  very  idle  and  neglectful  of  his  studies. 

His  opinion,  that  I  could  not  name  above  five  of  my  college  acquaintances 
who  read  Latin  with  sufficient  ease  to  make  it  pleasurable  ;  the  difficulty  of 
the  language  overpowers  the  desire  to  read  the  author  ;  that  he  read  Latin 
with  as  much  ease  when  he  went  to  college  as  at  present.  Attention  to  the 
language  overpowers  the  regard  to  the  matter ;  rather  not  know  the  contents 
than  dig  them  out  of  Latin. 

That  a  year  or  two  elapsed  between  his  quitting  school  and  going  to 
College. 

Commended  Ovid's  description  of  the  death  of  Hercules  —  doubted 
whether  Virgil  would  not  have  loaded  the  description  with  too  many  fine 
words  ;  that  Virgil  would  sometimes  dare  verba. 

Opinion  that  there  were  three  ways  in  which  writing  may  be  unnatural ;  by 
being  bombastic  and  above  nature,  affected  and  beside  it,  fringing  every  event 
with  ornaments  which  nature  did  not  afford,  or  weak  and  below  nature.  That 
neither  of  the  first  would  please  long.  That  the  third  might  indeed  please  a 
good  while,  or  at  least  many ;  because  imbecility,  and  consequently  a  love  of 
imbecility,  might  be  found  in  many. 

Baretti  had  told  him  of  some  Italian  author,  who  said  that  a  good  work 
must  be  that  with  which  the  vulgar  were  pleased,  and  of  which  the  learned 
could  tell  why  it  pleased — that  it  must  be  able  to  employ  the  learned,  and 
detain  the  idle.  Chevy  Chase  pleased  the  vulgar,  but  did  not  satisfy  the 
learned  ;  it  did  not  fill  a  mind  capable  of  thinking  strongly.  The  merit  of 
Shakspeare  was  such  as  the  ignorant  could  take  in,  and  the  learned  add 
nothing  to. 

TepTro/Mefd?  re  voov  6  nXeiova  eldoos  ' — the  offer  of  the  Syren  to  Ulysses. 
Any  man  will  preserve  his  respect  who  can  promise  this  to  another ;  applied 
to  a  college  tutor. 

Vast  change  of  the  Latin  language  from  the  time  of  Lucretius  to  Virgil ; 
greater  than  known  in  any  other,  even  the  French. 

Suspicion  that  the  old  grammarians  have  given  us  from  an  analogy  more 
modifications  of  tenses  than  were  ever  used.  Remember  but  one  instance  of 
second  future,  viz.  evpib  in  Josephus  ;  and  three  of  the  optative,  if  I  recollect, 
of  the  preterite  and  middle,  one  of  them  in  Hesiod. 

Great  advantage  of  a  University,  that  a  person  lives  in  a  place  where  his 
reputation  depends  on  his  learning. 

Argument  about  that  feel  which  persons  on  great  heights  suppose  them- 
selves to  have  of  a  wish  to  throw  themselves  down. 

'  'AAA.'  ofe  Ttpipafnuos  vtiTai  Kol  wKtiova  (iSuis. — Odyssey,  XIL  iS8. 

The 


Appendix  D.  441 


The  idea  of  delitescence  one  of  those  that  please  the  mind  in  a  hilly 
country.     Torpescence,  much  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind  lost  in  them. 

Qui  stiipet  in  statuis ',  appHed  to  Joseph  Warton's  admiration  of  fine 
passages.     His  taste  is  amazement". 

The  pretensions  of  the  English  to  the  reputation  of  writing  Latin  founded 
not  so  much  on  the  specimens  in  that  way  which  they  have  produced,  as  on 
the  quantity  of  talent  diffused  through  the  country, 

Erasmus  appears  to  be  totally  ignorant  of  science  and  natural  knowledge. 
But  one  Italian  writer  is  mentioned  in  Erasmus. 

Opinion  about  the  effect  of  turnpike  roads.  Every  place  communicating 
with  every  other.  Before,  there  were  cheap  places  and  dear  places.  Now 
all  refuges  destroyed  for  elegant  or  genteel  poverty.  Want  of  such  a  last 
hope  to  support  men  in  their  struggle  through  life,  however  seldom  it  might 
be  resorted  to.  Disunion  of  families  by  furnishing  a  market  to  each  man's 
abilities,  and  destroying  the  dependence  of  one  man  on  another. 

September  \st. — Left  Ashbourne  at  half-past  one,  having  gone  with  Dr. 
Johnson,  in  the  morning,  to  prayers.  Regretted,  upon  reflection,  that  I  had 
not  staid  another  day. 

'    '  Qui  stupet  in  titulis  et  imaginibus.'  Mr.    Croker    prints    '  Qui    sltipet,   in 

'  And  rapt,  with  awe-struck  admira-  Statius.'' 

tion  gaze,  '^  In  the  text  aiitusemost.     I  have  fol- 

When  the  long  race  its  images  dis-  lowed  Mr.  Croker's  reading, 
plays.'  Francis.  HoR.i'aAvi.  17. 


INDEX. 


Abbess,  Mrs.,  ii.  158. 
Aberbrothick,  i.  232. 
Aberdeen,  i.  233,  301  n. 
Abershaw,  Louis  Jeremiah,  ii.  30  n. 
Abington,  Mrs.,  i.  316. 
Accommodation,  i.  264  «. ;  ii.  367  «., 

394- 

Adair,  James,  i.  321. 
Adam,  the  brothers,  i.  8  n. 
Adams,  Rev.  William,  D.D.,  ii.  39,  227, 
258-9,  400,  430  ;  Johnson's  letters,  i. 

402  ;  ii.  409. 

Adams,  Miss,  ii.  259  «.,  260,  410. 

Addenbroke,  Dean,  i.  185,  301  «. 

Addison,  Joseph,  Life,  ii.  132,  13S  ;  in- 
fluence of  the  Spectator,  ii.  352  «. ; 
quoted,  i.  175,  207  n.,  273  «.,  277  «., 

403  n.  ;  ii.  149,  321  n.,  329,  352  n. 
Adey,  Mrs.,  i.  139  ;  ii.  17,  87. 
Adey,  Miss,  i.  331  ;  ii.  382. 
Adventure?-,  i.  36. 

Advice,  ii.  162. 

Agnes,  playing,  ii.  51. 

Air,  new  kinds  of,  ii.  333,  342,  362. 

Airy,  ii.  116  n.,  361  «. 

Akenside,  Mark,  M.D.,  ii.  21,  19S. 

Akerman,  — ,  ii.  173  n. 

Albemarle,  Lady,  ii.  173  n. 

Ale,  price  of,  i.  194. 

Allen,  Edmund,  i.  73  «.,  75  «,,  121  ;  ii. 
61,  226,  301,  332,  392,  395,  417-9; 
Johnson's  letter,  ii.  239. 

Allen,  Mrs.,  ii.  295,  309. 

Almanacs,  ii.  76  n. 

Alnwick,  i.  228. 

Althorpe,  Viscount,  ii.  1 11  n. 

America,  Conciliatory  Propositions,  i. 
311  M. ;  fierceness,  i.  318;  Johnson's 
violence,  i.  360 ;  lost  to  England,  ii. 
375;  'shining  talents'  on  the  side  of 
the  Colonies,  i.    390  n.;    war — Cop's 


Hill,  i.  161  «. ;  Bunker's  Hill,  i.  318  «.; 
332  «.,  360  n.  ;  Lexington,  i.  325  n. ; 
country  to  be  wasted,  i.  360  ;  expenses, 
i.  386  n. ;  effects  of  war,  see  under 
England;    Wesley's    Calm  Address, 

i-  37.^- 

Amusements,  ii.  25  «.,  439. 

Amusing,  i.  283  «. 

Andrews,  Dr.  Francis,  i.  123. 

Anoch,  i.  243,  246. 

Anspach,  Margrave  of,  ii.  143  n. 

Apperley,  — ,  Johnson's  letter,  i.  135. 

Appetite,  ii.  391. 

Approbation,  ii.  369. 

Archaological  Dictionary,  ii.  224. 

Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  ii.  408. 

Archbishop  of  York,  i.  138  n.,  313, 
327.  See  also  under  Markham,  Dr. 
William. 

Argyle,  John,  fifth  Duke  of,  i.  284-5  J 
ii.  40,  176. 

Aristotle,  quoted,  ii.  67. 

Arithmetic,  ii.  321,  361. 

Arkwright,  Sir  Richard,  i.  6  n. 

AscHAM,  Roger,  i.  225. 

Ashe,  Miss,  i.  211  n. 

ASPASIA,  ii.  390  n. 

Aston,  Elizabeth,  house,  i.  160  «. ;  Lives 
of  the  Poets  partly  \vritten  in  it,  ii.  46 
«.;  ill,  ii.  20,  26,  49,  54,  60,  97,  229, 
231-3;  Johnson's  letters,  i.  131,  155, 
368;  ii.  2,  3,  30,  58,  82,  85,  90,  114, 
119,  247-8,  382,429;  — regard  for  her, 
ii.  17,  227;  mentioned,  i.  173,  201,  310, 
329>  335>  381 ;  ii.  93,  185,  240,  314. 

Aston,  Sir  Thomas,  Bart.,  i.  16  w. 

Aston,  — ,  i.  16,  29. 

At  the  close,  ii.  374. 

Atlantic,  i.  146  n. 

Attend,  i.  404  n. 

Auchinleck,  Lord,  i.  244  «.,  292  «.,  320 
n. ;  ii.  271. 

Auchinleck  Place,  i.  287,  292. 


444 


Index  to 


Austin,  Mary  Ann Beauclerk,  Topham. 


Austin,  Mary  Ann,  ii.  334  n. 
Authors,   attacks   on  them,   i.  315  ;  ii. 

148  ;  earl)'  pieces,  ii.  7  ;  schemes,  i.  74 ; 

sought  Johnson's  aid,  ii.  313  n. ;  third 

nights,  ii.  252. 
Aylesbury,  Lady,  ii.  166  n. 

B. 

Bacon,    Francis,  quoted,  i.  252    n. ;   ii. 

"5  '^-j  331  «• 
Bagot,  Sir  Walter,  i.  137. 

Bagshaw,  Rev.  Mr.,  ii.  411. 

Baillet,  Adrian,  i.  146. 

Baillie,  Dr.,  ii.  339  n. 

Baines,  Edward,  i.  6  n. 

Baker,  Thomas,  ii.  13. 

Ballard,  — ,  i.  40. 

Balloons,  ii.  333,  342,  347-8,  354  n., 

365-372,  419.  427- 
Banks,  Sir  Joseph,  i.  233,  293  ;  ii.  36,-  n., 

434- 

Bantling,  i.  178  «. 

Barbauld,  Mrs.,  ii.  109  «.,  354  n. 

Barber,  Francis,  service  with  Johnson, 
i.  66  n. ;  wants  to  read  Evelina,  ii.  77  ; 
child  born  to  him,  239  ;  Johnson's 
letter,  331 ;  —  funeral,  434;  mentioned, 
i-  99,  173;  ii-  I.  28,  50,  227,  249  «., 
381  n. 

Barber,  Mrs.,  ii.  239. 

Barclays,  Quakers  and  brewers,  ii. 
216  «.,  222. 

Bardsey  Island,  i.  290. 

Baretti,  Joseph,  blessings  of  being  rich, 
ii.  164  n.  ;  Boswell  described,  i.  317  «.  ; 
ii.  39  n.  ;  Bruce  the  traveller,  i.  313  w. ; 
Carmen  Seculare,  ii.  So,  87  ;  described, 
i.  351  «. ;  Footeana,  ii.  55  w. ;  Gordon 
riots,  ii.  169  w.  ;  Introduction  to  Laii- 
guages,  i.  324  n. ;  Italian  local  histories, 
i.  145  n.',  Italian  author  quoted,  ii. 
440  ;  Johnson's  bigotry,  ii.  167  ;/.  ;  — 
dinner-table,  ii.  125  n.  ;  —  French,  i. 
324  n. ;  ii.  179^. ;  —  as  an  Inquisitor, 
i.  319  n.;  —  introduced  to  the  Cot- 
terells,  i.  44  n.  ;  —  mention  of  him  in 
the  Letters,  i.  350,  354-5  ;  —  musings, 
J-  359  «•>  388  n. ;  ii.  32  n.  ;  —  pay- 
ments, i.  79  n.;  —  '  true-bom  English- 
man, i.  238  n.  ;  Journey,  i.  165  ;  ii. 
329   ti. ;    Piozzi    attacked,    ii.    34   «., 


239  n.  ;  'plague  and  darling,'  i.  326  ; 
quits  Streatham,  i.  403  «. ;  Rasselas,  i. 
324  H.;  reviewed,  i.  403;  Smollett 
described,  i.  286  n.  ;  teacher  of  Italian, 
i.  294  n. ;  Thrale's  sons,  death  of,  i. 
381  n.,  383  n.,  3S4  «.,  386  n.,  3S8  n. ; 
Thrale,  Mrs.,  treatment  of  her  children, 
i.  205,  294  «.,  33S  n.,  350  n. ;  —  ac- 
cused of  poisoning  them,  i.  381  ^^. ;  — 
of  forging  a  letter,  ii.  405  n.  ;  —  she 
accuses  him,  ii.  40S  //.  ;  —  her  jealousy, 
i.  344  n. ;  —  Jewish  notions,  ii.  57  n.; 
—  wicked  house,  ii.  351  ;  Tromba 
Marino  man,  ii.  251  ;;. ;  mentioned,  i. 
163  n.,  347,  393  ;  ii.  183  n.,  318  ;z. 

Barker,  Dr.  Edmund,  ii.  364  «. 

Barker,  — ,  i.  70. 

Barnard,  Sir  Frederick  Augusta,  John- 
son's letter,  i.  142. 

Barnard,  Rev.  Dr.  (Dean  of  Derry),  i. 
362  n. 

Barnard,  Rev.  Dr.  (Provost  of  Eton),  ii. 
136-7,  164  ;/. 

Barret,  William,  i.  400,  404. 

Barrington,  Admiral,  ii.  251  n. 

Barry,  Dr.  (Sir  Edward  Barry,  Bart.), 
ii.  369. 

Barry,  James,  ii.  293,  305. 

Barwell,  — ,  i.  410  n. 

Baskerville,  John,  i.  42. 

Baskett,  Mark,  i.  115  n. 

Bate,  James,  i.  84  n. 

Bates,  — ,  i.  206  n. 

Bath,  i.  391  ;  ii.  146,  175-6,  404  ;/. 

B.\TH,  Earl  of,  i.  93  n. 

Bathurst,  Dr.  Richard,  i.  32  ;  ii.  209  «., 

364  "• 

Beatniffe,  Richard,  Johnson's  letter  ii. 
243- 

Beatoun,  Cardinal,  i.  231. 

Beattie,  Dr.  James,  Highland  scenery, 
i.  251  M. ;  pension,  287 ;  lodged  at 
Lambeth,  321  n.;  Goldsmith's  epitaph, 
407  n.;  Scott  ids  ws,  ii.  120  ;/.  ;  John- 
son hated  by  Monboddo,  150  n. ;  — 
appetite,  3S9  n. 

Beauclerk,  Lady  Diana,  i.  49  ;/. 

Beauclerk,  Topham,  Johnson  and  the 
orange-peel,  i.  49  n.  ;  story  about 
Johnson,  ii.  44  n. ;  ill,  54 ;  death, 
209  u. 


Lcttei's  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


445 


'  Beauties  of  Johnson.' Boawell,  James. 


Beauties  of  Johnson,  ii.  254. 

Beauvoir,  Rev.  Dr.  Osmund,  ii.  251  ;/. 

Beddoes,  Dr.,  ii.  77  n. 

Bedford,  fourth  Duke  of,  i.  7  n.,  417. 

Bedrider,  ii.  48. 

Beighton,  — ,  i.  117  ;;. 

Belcher,  William,  i.  137  n. 

Belin  be  Ballu,  ii.  410  «. 

Bell,  Rev.  Dr.,  i.  118;  ii.  63 ;;.,  146,  371. 

Bembo,  ii.  417. 

Bembridge,  — ,  ii.  298  n. 

Benedictines,  i.  401-2  ;  ii.  410. 

Bexsley,  Thomas,  ii.  433. 

Bentham,  Jeremy,  balloons,  ii.  420  ;/.  ; 
Elphinston's  house,  i.  1 7  n. ;  Johnson's 
City  Club,  ii.  363  «. ;  Mansfield's 
MSS.,  ii.  169  n.;  Markham,  Arch- 
bishop, ii.  150  n.  ;  'Omniscient  Jack- 
son,' ii.  349  71. ;  Oxford  University  elec- 
tion, i.  138  n.;  Queen's  College,  i.  114 
n.  ;  —  Dr.  Fothergill,  i.  3J4  n.  ;  — 
monotonous  life,  i.  330  n. 

Bentley,  Rev.  Richard,  D.D.,  ii.  276  n. 

Bentley,  Rev.  Richard,  D.D.  (the 
nephew),  i.  190. 

Berkeley,  fourth  Earl  of,  ii.  143  n. 

Berkeley  of  Stratton,  Lord,  ii.  169  «. 

Berry,  — ,  ii.  396  n. 

Besselsleigh,  ii.  260  n. 

Bewly,  William,  ii.  222  n. 

Bible,  early  editions,  i.  147. 

Biggins,  — ,  ii.  419  n. 

Bingham,  Hon.  Miss.  See  Spencer, 
Countess. 

Biografkia  Britannica,  ii.  40. 

Birch,  Rev.  Thomas,  D.D.,  account  of 
him,  i.  53  n. ;  Johnson's  letters,  i.  30, 
32,  3.S.  44.  5.^-  62,  64. 

Birmingham,  Johnson's  residence  there, 
i.  69 ;  ii.  289  n. ;  seat  of  the  mechanic 
arts,  ii.  53;  boobies,  ib.  n.  See  also 
under  Johnson. 

Bishops,  ii.  149  n. 

Black,  Joseph,  ii.  362  n. 

Black  dog,  ii.  73. 

Blacklock,  Dr.  Thomas,  i.  229. 

Blackmore,  Sir  Richard,  ii.  159,  185, 
19S,  275  n. 

Blackstone,  Sir  William,  Lectures  on 
Law,  i.  114  n. ;  Principal  of  New  Inn 
Hall,  132  n. ;     University  election  of 


1768,  1 38  n.  ;  Old  Bailey  Sessions,  ii. 
65  n.  ;  law  about  married  women,  218 
w. ;  law  of  settlement,  297  n. 

Blackwood,  Adam,  ii.  408  n. 

Blair,  Rev.  Dr.  Hugh,  i.  404  n. 

Blantire,  Lord,  ii.  169  w. 

Bleeding,  ii.  198,  253,  401. 

Bliss,  Dr.  Philip,  ii.  438. 

Blount,  Sir  Thomas  Pope,  i.  32. 

Blue-Stocking  Club,  ii.  136  n.,  151  «. 

BoDENS,  George,  ii.  164  n. 

Boothby,  Sir  Brooke,  Bart.,  i.  45  n. 

BoOTHBY,  Hill,  Johnson's  letters,  i.  45- 
52,  64. 

BOSVILLE,  Godfrey,  ii.  16  m. 

BoswELL,  James,  Ashbourne,  visits,  ii. 
15  «•.  31,  36,  38-9.  43;  Baltic  expe- 
dition, ii.  30;  'bends  a  keen  eye  on 
vacancy,'  i.  279  n. ;  bet  with  Lady  D. 
Beauclerk,  i.  49  n. ;  bodily  activity,  i. 
233  ;  '  Bos,'  i.  276  ;  '  Branghton,  a,'  ii. 
137  n. ;  Brocklesby  and  Hunter,  ii.  436 ; 
brother  David,  ii.  182  «.;  Cator's  guest, 
ii.  312  n. ;  Cecilia,  ii.  354  n  ;  chambers 
in  the  Temple,  i.  90  w.  ;  Chester,  visits, 
ii.  it6  n. ;  City  Club,  ii.  212  ;/. ;  clan, 
his,  ii.  16;  debts, ii.  271;  described  by 
Baretti,  i.  317  «.  ;  ii.  39  «. ;  Doxy, 
Miss,  ii.  129  n.  ;  equitation,  ii.  178  n.  ; 
Essex  Head  Club,  ii.  396  w. ;  exe- 
cution, present  at  an,  ii.  402  «. ;  father, 
i.  292,  320  n.  ;  ii.  271  ;  fees,  i.  317  n., 
320 ;  gentlemen  by  birth,  ii.  160  11. ; 
hereditary  possessions,  ii.  370  n.;  house, 
i.  229;  Johnson  allots  him  a  room,  i. 
317  w. ;  ii.  42  n. ;  ■ — appetite,  ii.  3^9 ''•  \ 

—  associates,  ii.  414  n. ;  —  attacks  him, 
ii.  65  n. ;   — ,  caricature  of,  ii.  295  n. ; 

—  describes  him,  i.  223  ;  —  and  Gar- 
rick,  i.  54  n. ;  —  and  Hawkins,  ii.  371 
n. ;  —  letter,  i.  299  ;  —  letters  to  Miss 
Burney,  ii.  354  n. ;  —  love  of  cold  air, 
ii.  385  n.  ;  —  monument,  ii.  33  n. ; 
— ,  pamphlet  sent  to,  ii.  2 78  «. ;  — 
pleasure  in  his  company,  i.  291 ;  ii.  33, 
39,  403  ;  —  relief  from  dropsy,  ii.  3S0 
n. ;  —  society,  i.  316  ;  — ,  '  spy'  on,  i. 
330;  —.visits  (1779).  "•  103-5;  — 
and  Wilkes,  ii.  295  n. ;  Journal,  i.  271, 

3^0,  330,  355.  392  «•;  »•  43,  103  "•. 
104  n.,  396  n. ;  'led  by  a  bear,'  ii.  43 


446 


Index  to 


Eoswell,  James Burnet,  Gilbert. 


«. ;  Lichfield,  visits,  i.  380;  ii.  119; 
—  theatre,  i.  385  n. ;  Literary  Club,  i. 
215;  ii.  65  n.,  402  n.;  Lives  of  the 
Poets,  ii.  197  n.,  208  ;  married,  i.  331 ; 
Mickle,  letter  to,  i.  422;  omissions  in 
the  Life,  i.  56  n.;  ii.  40  n.,  137  n., 
296  n. ;  '  Omniscient  Jackson,'  ii.  349 
n.  ;  Oxford,  visits,  ii.  398,  400  n. ; 
Paoli,  lives  with,  i.  316  ;  place-hnnter, 
i.  396 ;  Rudd,  Mrs.,  i.  395  n.,  399  «.  ; 
Scotland  his  native  place,  i.  130  n.  ; 
Seward,  liked,  ii.  35  ;  step-mother,  i. 
320,  396;  superstitious,  i.  231,  268, 
281 ;  takes  tea  with  Miss  Williams,  ii. 
335  n.;  Temple,  enters  at  the,  i.  316; 
ii.  399;  Thrale,  visits,  i.  313,  318;  — 
health,  ii.  103  ;  —  death,  ii.  209  ; 
Thrale,  Mrs.,  letter  to,  i.  383  n. ;  — 
studied  letters,  ii.  147  n.;  tour  to  the 
Hebrides,  i.  230-292,  337  n.;  trouble- 
some kindness,  i.  249  ;  Wart  on,  letter 
to,  ii.  155. 

BoswELL,  Mrs.,  i.  229  w.,  252,  2S7; 
ii.  16,43,  208. 

BoswELL,  Thomas  David,  i.  317  ;  ii.  181. 

BoswELL,  Veronica,  i.  287. 

BoTTARELLi,  F.,  ii.  415  n. 

Bottom,  ii.  30. 

BowEN,  J.,  ii.  106  ;;.,  11 1-2. 

Bower,  Archibald,  ii.  433. 

Bowles,  William,  ii.  146,  328,  341,  342 
n.,  396  71. 

Box-clubs,  i.  331. 

Boyd,  Hon.  Charles,  i.  236. 

Branghton,  a,  ii.  137. 

Brewer,  Father,  i.  401. 

Brewers,  ii.  160  n. 

Brewood  School,  ii.  161. 

Bright,  Rev.  Henry,  Johnson's  letter, 
i.  157;  mentioned,  i.  95,  108,  326. 

Brighthelmstone  (Brighton),  descrip- 
tion of  it,  i.  120  ;  remoteness,  i.  395  n.; 
ii.  41  n.,  45, 56  ;  journey  to  it,  ii.  91  «. ; 
the  Rooms,  ii.  46,  105  n. ;  the  Steync, 
ii.  79;  Thomas's  shop,  ii.  79  «.,  106; 
Bowen's  shop,  ii.  106  «. 

Bristol,  second  Earl  of,  i.  133  n. 

BROCKLESiiY,  Dr.,  house,  ii.  302;  quotes 
Juvenal,  304 ;  Johnson,  attends,  308-9, 
313.  315.  339,  392,  423;  —.letters  to, 
331,  417  M.;   —  dines  with  him,  396, 


402  ;  —  funeral,  434  ;  —  conversation, 
436;  met  Lord  Mansfield,  437, 

Brodhurst,  — ,  ii.  92. 

Broglio,  Marshal,  i.  12. 

Bromfield,  Robert,  M.D.,  i.  178  ;  ii.  94. 

Brooke,  Francis,  ii.  23. 

Broome,  William,  ii.  156,  180. 

Broome, — ,  ii.  315  n. 

Brothers  and  sisters,  ii.  237. 

Brown,  Dr.  John,  i.  11  n. 

Browne,  Isaac  Hawkins,  ii.  324  n. 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  Life,  i.  62. 

Browne,  Mrs.,  ii.  137. 

Bruce,  James,  i.  313. 

Brydone,  Patrick,  ii.  325  n. 

Brylston,  George,  i.  125. 

Budget,  ii.  320. 

Bttgle,  ii.  112  n. 

Building,  i.  99  ;  ii.  350. 

Buller,  Mrs.,  ii.  149. 

Bullers  of  Buchan,  i.  237. 

Bumbo,  ii.  329  71. 

BuNBURY,  Sir  Charles,  ii.  434-5. 

BuNBURY,  Sir  H.  E.,  ii.  436. 

BuNBURY,  Henry  William,  i.  344  «., 
ii.  179  n. 

BuNBURY,  Mrs.,  ii.  179. 

BuRKARTi,  i.  17  n. 

Burke,  Edmund,  American  war,  i.  390  n. ; 
Eeaconsfield,  i.  266  n. ;  Bishop  Shipley's 
house,  ii.  157  ;  companions  of  our  softer 
hours,  ii.  20  n. ;  Crabbe's  patron,  ii. 
287  n.,  2S8  ;  Croft's  Life  of  Yottttg,  ii. 
189  n.;  Fowke's  pension,  i.  409  n.\ 
games,  i.  330  n. ;  Gordon  riots,  ii. 
166  n.;  influence,  i.  107  n. ;  Jenkinson, 
attacks,  ii.  1^  n.;  Johnson's  funeral, 
ii.  434-5 ;  labour  needful,  ii.  439 ; 
'  live  pleasant,'  ii.  99  «. ;  '  Ned,'  i. 
123  n.  ;  Paymaster-general,  ii.  261  n., 
263;  portrait,  ii.  108;  reform  of 
Parliament,  ii.  286  n.  ;  Shelbume, 
Earl  of,  ii.  263  n. ;  Speech  on  Lndia, 
ii.  375;  Stonehenge,ii.  340  ;  mentioned, 
i.  167  ;  ii,  5  71.,  335  n. 

Burke,  Richard,  ii.  5  n. 

Burke,  Richard  (junior),  ii.  227,  263  n., 

434- 
Burke,  William,  i.  123  n. ;  ii.  5  «. 
Burnet,  Gilbert,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  ii. 

321  n. 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


447 


Burney  family Caen  Wood. 


BuRNEY  FAMILY,  Johnson's  love  for  it, 
ii.  237. 

Burney,  Captain  (afterwards  Admiral), 
ii.  237,  240,  353  n. 

Burney,  Dr.  Charles,  Bp.retti's  scheme, 
ii.  80  ;  Chaulnes,  Duke  of,  ii.  362  n. ; 
Gordon  riots,  ii.  172  «.;  Histojy  of 
Music,  ii.  77,  112  n.,  118;  Johnson 
at  his  house,  ii.  183,  281  w. ;  — ,  to 
bring,    ii.    78 ;    —    funeral,    ii.    434 ; 

—  hearth-broom,  ii.  223  n. ;  —  ill- 
ness, ii.  310  — letter,  ii.  144;  Latin 
for  misses,  ii.  98  n.  ;  music-lessons, 
ii.  140  7t. ;  Musical  Journey,  i.  206  ; 
robbed,  ii.  70 ;  Sunday  evening  con- 
certs, ii.  146  n. ;  mentioned,  ii.  5,  72, 

146,  32.5=  332  n. 

Burney,  Dr.  Charles  (junior),  ii.  325  n., 
396  «.,  434. 

Burney,  Charlotte,  ii.  154  n.,  353. 

Burney,  Frances  (Mme.  D'Arblay), 
Baretti  described,  i.  351  n. ;  Bath, 
visits,  ii.  132  ;  Boswell's  application  to 
her,  ii.  354  w.;  Brighton,  ii.  46  «.,  91  ??., 
106  «.;  brother's  ship,  ii.  237  «.;  Bruce 
the  traveller,  i.  313  «. ;  Buller,  Mrs., 
ii.  149  n. ;  Carter,  Mrs.,  ii.  163  n.  ; 
Cecilia,  ii.  279  «.,  280,  354;  compli- 
ments paid  to  her,  ii.  318  n.\  Con- 
tractors' Bill,  ii.  142  n. ;  Crutchley,  ii. 
236  n. ;  Cumberland,  hated  by,  ii.  112, 
122  w. ;  description  of  her,  ii.  133  n., 
354  n. ;  diary  and  letters  altered,  ii. 
6  n. ;  Dobson,  Mrs.,  ii.  299  n.;  Evelina, 
ii-  77)  I37j  234;  'Fanny's  trade  is 
fiction,'  ii.  325 ;  Garrick,  Mrs.,  ii. 
252  n.;  George  III  at  Weymouth, 
ii.  318  n.;  Gordon  riots,  ii.  164  n., 
169  n.,  171  n.,  173  71.;  Herschel's 
discoveries,  ii.  386  n.  ;  inaccuracy, 
ii.  237  w.  ;  Jebb,  Sir  R.,  ii.  148  n.; 
Johnson's  admiration  of  her,  i.  55  n.\ 

—  at  a  ball,  ii.  232  n.;  —  at  Dr. 
Bumey's,  ii.  183  n.,  281  n. ;  —  at  Mrs. 
Garrick's,  ii.  396  «.;  —  death,  ii.  332  «., 
414  n.  ;  —  described,  ii.  6  w. ;  —  diet, 
ii.  loi  n.  ;  —  to  be  drav?n  out,  ii. 
392  n. ;  —  ill  in  1783,  ii.  366  n.,  369  n. ; 

—  Latin  lessons,  ii.  98  n.,  182  ;  —  let- 
ters, ii.  222,  353-4;  — ,  letters  to,  ii. 
118,   136,  353  «. ;  — Letters  to  Mrs. 


Thrale,  ii.  5  w. ;  —  bums  Mrs.  Thrale's 
letters,  ii.  407  n. ;  —  Lives,  ii.  186  «., 
197  71.  ;  —  and  Mrs.  Montagu,  ii. 
139  «•)  336  «. ;  —  palsy,  ii.  310  n., 
312  w. ;  —  strange  discipline,  ii.  165  n. ; 
— ,  Mrs.  Thrale  and  Piozzi,  ii.  368  n.  ; 
Langton's  children,  ii.  317  m.  ;  Mus- 
grave.  Sir  R.,  ii.  295  «.  ;  Pcnnick,  Mr., 
i.  133  «. ;  praised  by  Hutton,  ii.  175; 
salary  at  Court,  i.  159  «. ;  sea-bathing, 
ii.  277  n.;  Southwark  election,  ii. 
157  n.;  Thrale's  illness,  ii.  94  »., 
loi  n.  ;  —  death,  ii.  209  «.,  211  n.\ 
Thrale,     Mrs.,    described,     ii.     5  71. ; 

—  slanders   Miss  Burney,  ii.  40S  71.  ; 

—  and  Metcalfe,  ii.  345  n. ;  —  and 
Piozzi,  ii.  6  71.,  351  71.,  386  «.,  394  w, ; 

—  sale  of  the  brewery,  ii.  217  «., 
222  M.  ;  Thrale,  Miss,  ii.  5  w.,  394  m.  ; 
Young,  Professor,  ii.  315  ;/. ;  men- 
tioned, ii.  129,  152,  229. 

Burney,  Richard,  ii.  310. 

Burney,   Susan,  i.  350  71. ;    ii.  109  n., 

310  w.,  390  n. 
Burning  glass,  ii.  311. 
Burns,  Robert,  Elphinston's  Martial,  i. 

17  71.;  Bullers  of  Buchan,  237  «. 
Burton,  Robert,  A7tatomy  of  Mela7tcholy 

quoted,  i.  257  «.,  293,  3S3  ;  ii.  22  w., 

202  71.,   253  71. 

Bustle,  i.  196  n. 

Bute,  third  Earl  of,  i.  92,   137  «.;  ii. 

401  7t. 
Butler,  Mr.  A.  J.,  i.  61  n. 
Butler,  Rev.  — ,  i.  157  w. 
Butler,  Samuel,  i.  218  n. 
Butt,  Rev.  Mr.,  ii.  434. 
Butter,  Dr.,  i.  189  w. ;  ii.  434. 
Byron,  Admiral,  ii.  79  «.,  121  w.,  235  «. 
Byron,  Augusta,  ii.  79. 
Byron,  Lord,  ii.  79  w.,  235  7i. 
Byron,  Mrs.,  ii.  79,  117,  121  «.,  140  «., 

142  71.,  235  n.,  360. 


-,  Sir  James,  ii.  164  «. 


Cadell,  Thomas,  i.  25  w. ;  ii.  275  «.; 

Johnson's  letters,  i.  188  ;  ii,  61,  71,89, 

208. 
Caen  Wood,  ii.  168. 


448 


Index  to 


Calder,  Rev.  Dr.  John Chesterfield,  Earl  of. 


Cai.der,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  i.  374 ;  John- 
son's letter,  376. 

Calling  in  the  country,  ii.  24  w. 

Calmet,  Augustin,  i.  147  ;  ii.  391. 

Calvert,  Felix,  ii.  23  n. 

Calvert,  Mrs.,  i.  122. 

Calvert  and  Seward,  i.  346. 

Cambridge,  Richard  Owen,  ii.  317  n. 

Camden,  Lord  Chancellor,  i.  421. 

Camden,  William,  ii.  341. 

Campbell,  Dr.  John,  ii.  433. 

Campbell,  — ,  i.  292. 

Camps,  ii.  71. 

Canal,  ii.  78  n. 

Canals,  i.  175. 

Car,  — ,  i.  11. 

Careless,  Mrs.,  i.  41  «.,  164,  202,  378 ; 
ii.  17,  2  28. 

Carlisle,  fifth  Earl  of,  ii.  38  ;/.,  109  n. 

Carlisle,  Countess  of,  ii.  368. 

Carlyle,  Rev.  Alexander,  D.D.,  i.  272  n. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  Battle  of  Chotusitz, 
i.  13  «.  ;  like  Johnson,  20;;.  ;  Watson's 
Philip  II,  \^  I  '^- ;  brothers  and  friends, 
ii.  237  «. 

Carmichael,  Miss,  ii.  42  n.,  75,  77. 

Carte,  Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  281. 

Carte,  Thomas,  i.  17  «.,  170  n. 

Carter,  Elizabeth,  Johnson's  letter,  i. 
55  ;  described  by  Miss  Burney,  ii.163  n. ; 
mentioned,  ii.  24,  251. 

Carter,  — ,  a  riding-school  master,i.  309, 

312,  321,  327.  329'  338,361,  377- 
Carteret,  John,  Lord  (Earl  Granville), 

i.  12. 

Carwithen,  Miss,  i.  94. 
Castiglione,  Prince  Gonzaga  di,  ii.  6. 
Castles,  the,  ii.  183  «. 
Catalogus  Bibliothecm  Thuance,  i.  30  w. 
Catamaran,  ii.  122. 
Catch,  ii.  108. 
Catcot,  George,  i.  404. 
Catherine  the  Second,  ii.  377. 
Cator,  John,  i.  355  ;  ii.  128  «.,  210  «., 
212-3,  216  «.,  217,  222,  312,  373-4, 

381  «.,  389,  391- 
Cave,  Edward,  Johnson  impransus,  i.  3  ; 

—  Irene,  5  w. ;  —  and  Lewis  Paul,  7  ; 

—  Rambler,  29  «. ;  death,  55;  sister, 
67  n. ;  Collins's  lidele,  37  n. ;  ii. 
131  n. 


Cave,  Richard,  or  William,  i.  58,  60, 
66,  69 ;  Johnson's  letter,  i.  57. 

Cavendish,  the  Lords,  ii.  10. 

Cavendish,  Lord  Frederick,  ii.  167  n. 

Cavendish,  Lord  John,  ii.  261  n. 

Cawdor,  i.  240. 

Celsus,  i.  220. 

Cephalick,  ii.  356  n. 

Chambers,  Catherine,  i.  76,  82-6,  91, 
93,  99,  I"'  125,  131. 

Chambers,  Ephraim,  i.  374  n. 

Chambers,  Sir  Robert,  at  University 
College,  i.  113  n.;  Principal  of  New 
Inn  Hall,  132  n.,  141  «.,  152  n.  ;  John- 
son's companion  to  Newcastle,  222, 
224;  Judge  in  Bengal,  341  ;  ii.  65  n. 
263,  28S  ;    Universal  History,  ii.  432. 

Chambers,    Mrs.    (Lady   Chambers\,   i. 

341,  347- 
Chamier,  Andrew,  ii.  109  n  ,  121  n. 

Chandler,  Dr.  Richard,  i.  321. 

Change  of  place,  ii.  329. 

Chaplin,  — ,  ii.  49. 

Chapone,  Mrs.  (Miss   Mulso),  ii.    141, 

353- 

Charles  II,  i.  59  «.,  302  n. 

Charles  of  Sweden,  i.  11. 

Charleton,  Dr.  Walter,  ii.  341. 

Charlotte,  Queen,  i.  184  n.,  258  n. ;  ii. 
5  n.,  318  ;/. 

Charter-house,  ii.  14  «.,  207,  213. 

Chatham,  William  Pitt,  first  Earl  of, 
influence,  i.  107  «.  ;  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland, 228  n.  ;  Highland  regiments, 
274  71.  ;  Jacobite  song  at  Oxford,  ii. 
227  «.;  son,//'.;  reform  of  Parliament, 

286  71. 

Chatsworth,  i.  201  ;  ii.  43. 

Chatterton,  Thomas,  i.  398,  400,  404  ; 
ii.  250  71. 

Chaulnes,  Duke  of,  ii.  362  «. 

Chemical  sect,  ii.  253. 

Chenevix,  Rev.  Dr.  R.  (Bishop  of 
Waterford),  i.  11  «. 

Chesterfield,  fourth  Earl  of.  Courts 
and  Camps,  ii.  71  «. ;  effects  of  old  age, 
ii.  212  71. ;  hoc  age,  i.  337  «. ;  Johnson's 
I)ictio7ia>y,  i.  409  w. ;  Lord-Lieutenant 
of  Ireland,  i.  10;  men's  weaknesses,  ii. 
314  «.  ;  Ranelagh,  i.  306  «. ;  mentioned, 
i-  13  ";  352  «■;  ii-  38  n. 


Letter's  of  Dr.  Johnso7i. 


449 


Chesterfield,  Earl  of. Cottenham,  Earl  of. 


Chesterfield,  fifth  Earl  of,  ii.  ii  «. 
Chetwood,  William  Rufus,  i.  5. 
Chevy  Chase,  ii.  440. 
Cheyne,  George,  M.D.,  i.  293,  358  ;  ii. 

198  «.,   235   71. 

Children,  treatment  of,  ii.  no,  1S3. 
China-ware,  ii.  35. 
Chirtirgeon,  ii.  i. 
Cholmondeley,  G.  J.,  ii.  50. 
Cholmondeley,  Hon.  and  Rev.  Robert, 

ii.  186  11. 
Cholmondeley,  Hon.  Mrs.,  ii.  \i6  it., 

186  71.,  324  «.,  339. 
Christ's  Hospital,  i.  303-4. 
Chronology,  ii.  27. 
Churchill,  Charles,  ii.  332  n. 
Cicero,  quoted,  i.  374  n. ;  ii.  201. 
Civilization,  i.  264  n. 
Clarendon,  first  Earl  of,  i.  309  n. 
Clarendon  Press,  see  imder  Oxford. 
Clarke,  John,  i.  95,  20S. 
Clarke,   Alderman    Richard,  ii.  65   n., 

363  n. 
Claude  Lorain e,  ii.  299. 
Clergyman,  letter  of  one  at  Bath,  ii. 

254  ;  petition  of  a  poor  curate,  278  n. 
Clerk,  Sir  Philip  Jennings,  ii.  6  n.,  94, 

III,    119,   142,    153,    171  «.,    239   n., 

310,  313- 

Climate,  ii.  182  «. 

Clink,  The,  ii.  178. 

Clothes,  cost  of,  ii.  278. 

Clubs:  City,  ii.  212  n.,  363  «. ;  Essex 
Head,  ii.  367,  377  w.,  390,  396  ;?.,  402, 
411,  415,  417,  419,  422  ;  Hum-drnm, 
ii.  359  n.;  Ivy  Lane,  ii.  359,  363-4, 
388,  390;  Literary,  i.  121,  215  ;  ii.  65, 
88  n.,  312-4,  <i02;   Rambler,  ii.  364  n. 

Coaches,  fares  and  speed,  i.  78  n.,  142  «., 
173  n.,  191,  320  ;;.,  392  k.  ;  ii.  32S  n., 
339,  430  n.  ;  mail-coaches,  i.  392  n.  ; 
vacant  places,  i.  183,  324,  326-7,  357  ; 
ii.  228  11. 

Co.\L,  scarcity  of,  ii.  251  n.,  260. 

Coarse,  i.  248  n. 

Cobb,  Mrs.,  i.  139,  164,  173,  331  ;  ii.  92, 
230,  382. 

Cock  Lane  Ghost,  ii.  291  n. 

Cockers  Arithmetic,  i.  243. 

Coffey,  — ,  i.  256  «. 

Cole,  Robert,  F.S.A.,  i.  6  n. 

VOL.  IL  G 


Cole,  Rev.  William,  ii.  189  n. 

Colebrook,  Sir  George,  i.  170. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  i.  303  n. 

Coll,  Isle  of,  i.  276-8. 

Coll,  Laird  of,  i.  267,  269,  277,  279,  331, 

371- 
College  Tutor,  ii.  440. 
Collier,  Dr.  Arthm-,  ii.  69. 
Collier,  Sir  George,  i.  no  n. 
Collier,    Misses,     ii.    262-4,    269-70, 

278,  2S0,  282. 

COLLINGTON,  — ,  i.   132  ;/. 

Collingwood,  Admiral,  ii.  in  n. 
Collins,  W^illiam,  melancholy,  i.  36,  39, 

63  ;  Life  and  poems,  ii.  130-1,  198. 
CoLMAN,    George,    i.    133   n.,    214;    ii. 

115  «•,  434- 

Colquhoun,  Sir  James,  i.  286. 

CoMAUL  Uddien  Khan,  i.  410  n. 

Comet,  ii.  339  n. 

Common  evils,  ii.  326. 

Compliments,  i.  329. 

Compton,  Rev.  James,  ii.    290 ;  John- 
son's letter,  ii.  271. 

Condolcnt,  i.  96. 

Congreve,   Rev.  Charles,  i.  304,   307, 

315,  378-9- 
Congreve,    William,    quoted,   i.    181  ; 

Old  Bachelor,  ii.  38  n. ;  Life,  ii.  154, 

160. 
Contemplation,  ii.  21. 
Contractors'  Bill,  ii.  142. 
Conversation,  ii.  19  w.,  403. 
Conversation     (conversazione),    ii.    105, 

179. 
Conway,  Hon.  Captain,  ii.  237  n. 
Conway,  — ,  ii.  167  n. 
Cook,  Captain,  i.  233  n. ;  ii.  19,  77  n. 
Cooke,  William,  ii.  434. 
Cooper,  Grey,  i.  311. 
CooTE,  Sir  Eyre,  i.  240. 
Cop,  i.  161  n. 
Copyright,  i.  297. 
Corn,  price  of,  i.  192. 
Corn-mill,  i.  155. 
Cornbury,  Viscount   (Baron   Hyde),  i. 

309  n. 
CoRNELYS,  Madame,  i.  88  n. 
CORNWALLIS,  Lady  Mary,  ii.  23  n. 
Correggio,  ii.  52  n. 
Cottenham,  first  Earl  of,  ii.  136  n. 


g 


450 


Index  to 


Cotterell,  Admiral Descriptions. 


COTTERELL,  Admiral,  i.  43  n. 

216  n.,   219   ;/.,   222,   236,   298,   3S8, 

Cotterell,  Miss,  i.  43  ;?. ;  ii.  393. 

391  n. 

Cotton,  Henry,  ii.  394  n. 

Cumberland,  Duke  of,  ii.  339  n. 

Cotton,  Mrs.,  ii.  132,  1.58. 

Cumberland,  Richard,  '  past  compute,' 

Cotton,  Sir  Lynch  Salusbury,  ii.  44  n., 

i.  38 7  ;  Garrick's  funeral,  ii.  84  n.\  '  is 

351- 

a  million,'  11 1  ;  jealousy,  112,  115  «., 

Cotton,  Sir  Robert,  i.  201  n. ;  ii.  44  n. 

122  n.;  loss  of  money,   118  n.,   123; 

Cotton,  Robert,  ii.  151  n. 

Walloons,  252  n.\  mentioned,  117. 

Cotton,  Sir  Thomas,  i.  128  n. 

Cumins,  Mrs.,  ii.  181,  232. 

COULSON,  Rev.  John,  i.  113  n.,  323,  325, 

Cummins,  — ,  ii.  231. 

327,  366;  ii.  16. 

Cunning  people,  ii.  270. 

Country  towns,  1.  107. 

CuxoN,  — ,  i.  70. 

Courtney,  Right  Hon.  Leonard  H.,  i. 

.533  «• 

D. 

Coventry,  ii.  92. 

D  ,  Mrs.,  ii.  74. 

Cowley,   Abraham,  quoted,  i.    iSi  ;    ii. 

D'Aguilar,  Baron,  ii.  173  n. 

201  ;  Life,  ii.  68. 

Dale,  Mrs.,  i.  348. 

Cowley,  Father,  i.  401. 

Darlington,  i.  225. 

CowPER,  William,  balloons,  ii.  333  n. ; 

Dartmouth,  second  Earl  of,  i.  373  n.  ; 

Gray's  Letters,  i.  317  «.  ;  Heberden,  ii. 

Johnson's  letter,  ii.  291. 

95  n.  ;  James's  powder,  i.  23  n. ;  John- 

Darwin, Charles,  i.  82  «. 

son's  religious  state,  i.  49  n. ;  ii.  385  n. ; 

Darwin,  Charles  Robert,  i.  82  n. 

Lord  Dartmouth,  ii.  291    n.  ;  meteors, 

Darwin,   Erasmus,  marriage,  i.  82  n. ; 

ii.  334  11. ;    transmission  of  money,  i. 

Lichfield  apothecaries,  162  n.\  Loves 

77  «. 

of  the  Plants,  ii.  235  n. ;  quoted,  365  n.. 

CoXETER,  Thomas,  i.  170  «.,  414. 

394  "• 

CoxETER,  Thomas,  the  younger,  i.  170, 

Darwin,  Robert  Waring,  i.  82  ;;. 

414- 

Davenant,  Mrs.,i.  333  n.  ;  ii.  350,  393, 

Crabbe,  George,  Gordon  riots,  ii.  167  ;/., 

394  «• 

168    «.,    174   n.  ;    Johnson   reads   his 

Davenport,  William,  i.  303  n.,  314. 

poem,  287  ;  meteor  of  1783,  334  n. 

Daventry,  ii.  92. 

Cradock,  Joseph,  ii.  74  w. ;   Johnson's 

Davies,  Thomas,  ii.  28,56,64,  86  ?z.,  260, 

letter,  284. 

308  n. 

Cranbourne,  Lady,  ii.  157. 

Davies,  Mrs.,  ii.  308  n.,  332  n. 

Crane,  Dr.,  i.  400. 

Davis,  Mrs.,  ii.  332. 

Craven,  Lady,  ii.  143,  153,  157,  414  «. 

Day,  Thomas,  i.  160  n. 

Crisp,  Samuel,  ii.  loi  n.,  109  n. 

Days,  bright  and  cloudy,  i.  346. 

Criticism,  ii.  148. 

De  Foe,  Daniel,  i.  120  n. 

Croft,  Rev.  Herbert,  ii.  189  n. 

De  Groot,  Isaac,  ii.  14. 

Croft,  — ,  ii.  294. 

Dead,  commending  the,  i.  79  n. 

Croker,  John    Wilson,    i.    241  n.\    ii. 

Death  :  facing  it,  i.  77  ;  thinking  on  it. 

138  «•>  336  n.,  441  ;/. 

134;    condition   of  one's  nature,    138, 

Crompton,  Samuel,  i.  6  n. 

212  «.;  mors  omnibus  com intmis,  180. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  i.   235;  ii.  261   n., 

Delap,  Rev.  Dr.,  i.  332  n.;  ii.  112,  118  «. 

321  n. 

Delitescence,  i.  401 ;  ii.  441. 

Crosse,  John,  i.  135  n. 

Denmark,  Queen  of,  i.  319,  340  ;/. 

Crow,  Mrs.,  i.  6. 

Derby,  ii.  35. 

Crown-birds,  ii.  187. 

Derby,  Rev.  John,  ii.  73. 

Cruiksh.a.nk,  William  Cumberland,  ii. 

Dereliction,  ii.  307. 

339.  .342-3,  34^>  434- 

Descartes,  i.  48. 

Crutchley,  Jeremiah,  ii.  128,  210  n.. 

Descriptions,  ii.  331. 

Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


451 


Desmoulins,  John Elgin. 


Desmoulins,  John,ii.  73,  75-6,  79,  291, 

297,  434- 

Desmoulins,  Mrs.,  i.  4  «.,  6  «.,  54  n. ; 
ii.  42,  74,  107,  122,  152,  1S7,  191,  193, 
207,  240,  242  «.,  295,  297,  309  «.,  332, 
426  ;  Johnson's  letter,  i.  365. 

Devizes,  ii.  132  w. 

Devon,  Earl  of,  i.  224  n. 

Devonshire,  third  Duke  of,  i.  12. 

Devonshire,  fourth  Duke  of,  i.  117  n. 

Devonshire,  fifth  Duke  of,  ii.  10,  262. 

Devonshire,  Duchess  of,  ii.  252. 

Dicey,  — ,  i.  66. 

Dickens,  Charles,  i.  392  71. 

Dictionaries,  ii.  415,  417,  426. 

Dictionary,  Johnson's,  i.  25-8,  34,  42, 
324  n. ;  fourth  edition,  190-1 ;  abridg- 
ment, ii.  35  n.  ;  plan,  38  n 

Diderot,  ii.  80  n. 

DiLLY,  Messieurs,  i.  314,  320  n.,  360  n., 
384  n.,  397  ji.  ;  ii.  208  n.,  396. 

DiOT,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  i.  342,  348 ;  ii.  30. 

Dirty  Lane,  i.  196  n. 

Discoveries,  i.  210. 

Distance,  effect  of,  i.  386  n. 

Dixey  (Dixie),  Beaumont,  i.  14  n. 

Dixey,  Sir  VVolstan,  i.  2  ;  ii.  264  ;/. 

Dixey  (Dixie),  — ,  ii.  264. 

DOBSON,  Dr.  Matthew,  ii.  299  n. 

Dobson,  Susanna,  ii.  299. 

DoDD,  Rev.  William,  D.D.,  trial  and 
execution,  ii.  1 1 ;  Johnson  "s  petitions, 
&c.,  17,  18;  'prattling  on  paper,'  71; 
Chapel,  291  71. 

DoDSLEV,  James  and  Robert,  i.  5  n.,  25 
}i.,  28,  62  «.,  79  w.,  89  n. 

DoGE  OF  Genoa,  i.  270  ;  ii.  393. 

DOLBEN,    Sir    William,     i.     137    ;;. ;    ii. 

15.=;  «• 
Doncaster,  i.  224. 

Doughty,  William,  i.  399  n. 

Douglas,  Duchess  of,  i.  229. 

Douglas,  John,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Carlisle 
and  afterwards  of  Salisbury,  Johnson's 
letter,  i.  377 ;  —  Letters  to  Mrs. 
Thrale,  ii.  5. 

Douthwaite,  Mr.  W.  R.,  i.  88  n. 

Down,  to,  ii.  73. 

Doxy,  Miss,  ii.  129  n. 

Doxy,  — ,  a  medical  man,  ii.  362. 

Dozeners,  i.  162  ;  ii.  92  n. 


Drake,  Sir  Francis,  i.  166. 

Drinking,  i.  223,  368,  408  ;  ii.  87,  266. 

Drummond  of  Blair,  i.  277  n. 

Drummond,  William,  i.  227. 

Dryden,  John,  poetry  in  Oxford,  ii.  22  n. ; 
Life,  68-9;  writing  with  a  hat,  128; 
Miscellany,  195  n.  ;  lines  to  Charleton, 
341  n. ;  quoted  :  Absalom  and  Achito- 
phel,  ii.  43  ;  Alexander  s  Feast,  i.  337 
n.]  ii.  53  ;  Character  of  a  Good  Parson, 
ii.  397  n.  ;  Conquest  of  Granada,  ii. 
373;  Lines  to  John  Dridcn,  ii.  117; 
from  other  poems,  i.  182  n.  ;    ii.  45. 

Du  Fresnoy,  ii.  286  n. 

Dunbar,  Dr.,  ii.  183. 

Dunbar,  Sir  James,  ii.  183  n. 

DuNBUYS,  i.  236. 

Duncan,  Sir  William,  ii.  401  71. 

Dundee,  i.  232. 

Dunn,  — ,  ii.  270. 

Dunning,  John  (first  Lord  Ashburton), 
ii.  145  n. 

DUNTON,  John,  ii.  141  «. 

Dunvegan  Castle,  i.  245,  267. 

Durham,  i.  226. 

Dutch  Service,  regiments  in  the.  i. 
268. 

Duties  of  life,  i.  loi. 

Dyer,  John,  ii.  108  «. 

Dyer,  Samuel,  ii.  108,  364,  390. 

E. 

East,  Rev.  Mr.,  ii.  434. 

East  India  Company,  i.  170;   ii.  358, 

37.^- 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  England, 

i.  74. 

Edgeworth,  Richard  Lovell,  i.  346  ;/. ; 

ii.  235  n. 
Edinburgh,  i,  228,  292. 
Edinburgh  Dispensatory,  ii.  303. 
Education,  i.  334,  394  ;  ii.  124,  437. 
Edward  the  Confessor,  i.  74. 
Edwards,  Rev.  Dr.  Edward,  ii.  257,  260, 

398,  410. 
Edwards,  Oliver,  ii.  296  «. 
Eglinton,  Earl  of,  i.  277  «. ;   Countess, 

292. 
Eld,  — ,  i.  11. 

Eldon,  first  Earl  of.     See  Scott,  John. 
Elgin,  i.  239,  240  w.,  301  n. 

2 


452 


hidex  to 


Eliot,  Edward Prance. 


Eliot,  Edward  (first  Lord  Eliot),  ii.  113, 
326  n. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  ii.  437. 

Elliot,  Sir  Gilbert,  i.  420. 

Elphinston,  James,  i.  17  n.,  214;  ii. 
212  11. ;  Johnson's  letters,  i.  17;  ii.  67. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  ii.  237  n. 

Empires,  how  broken  down,  ii.  375. 

Engineer,  ii.  164  «. 

England,  (1779)  all  trade  dead,  ii.  120; 
(i  780)  poverty  and  degradation,  150??.; 
(1782)  sinking,  264;  (1783)  fear  of  a 
civil  war,  286  ;  (1784)  times  dismal 
and  gloomy,  370 ;  a  broken  down 
empire,  375.     See  also  Invasions. 

English,  writing  verses,  i.  97. 

Engraving,  i.  145. 

Enthusiasm ,  ii.  306  «. 

Epistolick,  ii.  52  n. 

Erasmus,  ii.  45,  441. 

Errol,  Earl  and  Countess  of,  i.  236. 

Erse,  i.  255,  260. 

Erskine,  Hon.  Thomas  (afterwards  Lord 
Chancellor  Erskine),  ii.  76  n. 

Erttption  of  Krakatoa,  ii.  320  n. 

Ettgh,  i.  286  n. 

Evans,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  393 ;  ii.  145  n.,  154. 

Evelyn,  John,  i.  154. 

Evil,  apprehensions  of,  i.  262,  327. 

Executions,  ii.  332  n.,  347,  402  n. 

Exetnplijication,  ii.  270. 

Exercise,  ii.  99,  102,  254,  355. 

Exeter  Exchange,  i.  396. 

Exhibition.    See  Royal  Academy. 

Extenuation,  ii.  159. 

Eyre,  Baron,  ii.  65  n. 

Eyre,  George,  i.  25  n.,  115  n.\  ii.  272  n. 

F. 

Factory,  ii.  377  n. 

Fakenham  [Fcckenham],  Abbot,  ii.437. 

Falconer,  Dr.,  ii.  249. 

Falkland's  Islands,  i.  167  n. 

Fame,  ii.  116. 

Farmer,  Rev.  Richard,  D.D.,  Johnson's 
letters,  i.  169  ;  ii.  13,  180  n. ;  — funeral, 
ii.  434  ;  Ruggle's  Ignoramus,  ii.  388  n. ; 
mentioned,  i.  204. 

Faulkner,  George,  i.  13,  316. 

Feelers,  ii.  124,  126. 

Feeling,  i.  187. 


Fenton,  Elijah,  ii.  156,  195-6. 
Feudal  Constitution,  i.  144. 
Feudist,  i.  145  n. 
Fielding,    Henry,    James's    powder,    i. 

23   n.  ;    anonymous   writings,    80   n.  ; 

Dr.    Cheney,    359    n.  ;    his   successor, 

396  n.  ;  brother,  ii.  168  n. 
Fielding,  Sir  John,  ii.  168,  170  n. 
Fitzherbert,  Elizabeth,  i.  45  n. 
Fitzherbert,  William,  i.  17  n.,  46  «., 

48. 
FiTZMAURlCE,  Hon.  Thomas,  Johnson's 

letter,  ii.  81  ;  —  dines  with  him,  151. 
Fitzoshorne' s  Letters,  ii.  148. 
Fitzroy,  Lord  Charles,  i.  10  n. 
Fixed  air,  ii.  362. 
Flattery,  i.  221 ;  ii.  308. 
Fleetwood,  Charles,  i.  5. 
Fletcher,  Mrs.,  ii.  262. 
Fleury,  Cardinal,  i.  12. 
Flint,  Miss,  Johnson's  letter,  i.  150. 
Flint,  — ,  i.  349  ;   ii.  263  n.,  269  n., 

270,  278,  282. 
Flying  Man,  ii.  419. 
FoOTE,  Samuel,  i.  4  n.,  258  n. ;  ii.  55. 
Ford,  Rev.  Cornelius,  i.  177. 
Fordyce,  Miss,  i.  226. 
Fordyce's  Bank,  i.  192  «.,  226. 
Formxilary,  i.  330  n. 
Forrester,  Colonel,  ii.  414  n. 
Fort  Augustus,  i.  242. 
Fort  George,  i.  240. 
Fortescue,  Mr.  G.  K.,  ii.  438. 
Foss,  Edward,  ii.  325  ;/. 
FOTHERGILL,    Rev.    Thomas,    D.D.,   i. 

323  «.,  324  n. 
Foundling  Hospital,  i.  417. 
FowKE,  Francis,  Johnson's  letter,  i.  409. 
FowKE,  Joseph,  i.  409  ;  Johnson's  letter, 

ii.  288. 
Fowler,   Mr.  J.   Coke,   i.   342   n. ;   ii. 

400  n. 
Fox,  Charles  James,  Westminster  election, 

ii.  172  ;?.;  superior  to  his  father,  227^.  ; 

Rockingham  ministry,  261  ;  reform  of 

Parliament,  286  n.  ;    East  India  Bill, 

358  n.  ;  Reynolds's  portrait,  393  n. 
FOX-HUNTING,  ii.  96. 
France,  rebellion  imminent,  i.   12  «. ; 

Johnson's  visit,  369,  378  ;   transports, 

ii.  251  ;  wolves,  382  n. 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


453 


Franklin,  Benjamin Gordon,  Sir  Alexander. 


FRANKLlN.Benjamin,  journeyman  printer, 
i.  67  n.  ;  advice  about  parsons,  ii. 
2S3  n.  ;  balloons,  365  n. 

Franks.    See  Post. 

Fraser  of  Strichen,  i.  239  n. 

Frederick  II,  King  of  Prussia,  i.  12. 

Free,  to,  i.  309  n. 

Freeth,  S.  and  S.,  i.  156  n. 

French,  Gilbert,  i.  6  n. 

Friendship  :  its  form  varies,  i.  68 ; 
friends  of  one's  youth,  71,  73;  its 
duties,  loo-i  ;  born  friends,  ii.  237  n., 
292  ;  old  friends,  350  ;  comforts  of 
friendship,  357,  428. 

Frizz,  ii.  57  «. 

Frome,  ii.  194. 

Fust,  John,  i.  144. 

Future  life,  ii.  380. 


G ,  Mrs.,  ii.  73. 

Galenists,  ii.  253  n. 

Gallicisms,  i.  61. 

Galway,  Lady,  ii.  151  «. 

Games,  i.  330  n. 

Gardiner,  Mrs.,  i.  15O  ii.\   ii.  2,  174, 

332,  399.  414  «• 

Garlick,  — ,  i.  70. 

Garnett,  Dr.  T.,  i.  249  n. 

Garrick,  David,  benefit  to  Miss  Wil- 
liams, i.  53  ;  ii.  334  n.  ;  club  forfeits, 
ii.  415  n. ;  compared  with  Mrs.  Porter, 
ii.  344  n. ;  Cumberland's  plays,  ii.  iii 
n.;  death,  ii.  55  n.,  84,  86,  220  n.; 
funeral,  ii.  252,  435  ;  Drury  Lane 
Theatre,  ii.  252  n.;  generosity,  ii.  66; 
Goldsmith  and  Hawkesworth,  i.  365 
n. ;  Johnson  attacks  him,  i.  75  n.,  ii8 
n. ;  —  Irene,  i.  4  n.,  5  ;  —  letters,  i, 
1 16-8, 127, 150, 1 86;  London  Cuckolds, 
i.  185  n. ;  Mickle  quarrels  with  him, 
i.  214,  422  ;  niece,  ii.  129  n.;  verses, 
i.  421  ;  will,  ii.  230;  wine-merchant, 
ii.  20  n. ;  mentioned,  i.  49  n.,  211  71. 

Garrick,  Mrs.,  ii.  62,  150  n.,  230  n., 
250-1,  294  «.,  396;  Johnson's  letter, 
ii.  84. 

Garrick,  Peter,  i.  4  n.\  ii.  20,  93,  230. 

Gastrell,  Mrs.,  i.  160  n. ;  ii.  3,  25,  46 
w.,  58,  82-3,  85,  90,  114,  120,  229,248; 
Johnson's  letters,ii.  60, 248,368,382,429. 


Gawler,  Mrs.,  ii.  186  n. 

Gay,  John,  ii.  195  «.,  198,  275. 

Gell,  Philip,  i.  348. 

Cell,  Sir  William,  i.  348  n. 

Genius,  ii.  55,  437. 

Genoa,  i.  270 ;  ii.  35  «.,  393. 

George  III,  Bas  Bleu,  ii.  390  n. ; 
Coronation,  i.  91  ;  Gordon  riots,  ii. 
170;/.,  177;  Johnson,  interview  with, 
i.  115  n.;  ii.  289  n.;  — sends  him 
his  Lives,  ii.  87 ;  —  a  Papist  and  a 
Jacobite,  ib.  n.  ;  Library,  i.  143  n.  ; 
London  Cuckolds,  i.  185  n.  ;  Pitt's 
ministry  in  1783-4,  ii.  374  n.;  visits 
Weymouth,  ii.  318  n. 

German  Language,  i.  324  n. 

Gibbon,  Edward,  American  war,  i.  3S6 
n.,  390  71. ;  epitaph  on  Earl  of  Devon, 
i.  224  w. ;  Gordon  riots,  ii.  166  n. 
lucid  interval,  ii.  377  n. ;  Oxford  in 
the  Long  Vacation,  i.  361  n.  ;  reform 
of  Parliament,  ii.  286  n.;  remedy  for 
sorrow,  ii.  2  lo  n. ;  Saint  Martin,  ii. 
192  n.;  Sheffield,  Lady,  ii.  252  n.\ 
Spencer,  Countess,  ii.  iii  «.,  369  «.j 
Universal  History,  ii.  431  n.,  432  n. 

Gill,  Alderman,  i.  116  n. 

GiSBORNE,  a  banker,  i.  14  n. 

Glasgow,  i.  291. 

Glenelg,  i.  251. 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  ii.  167  «. 

Gluttony,  ii.  323. 

Goethe,  i.  355  n. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver  :  Beattie,  i.  287  «. ; 
Collins,  i.  37  «.  ;  Cumberland  the 
dramatist,  ii.  iii  n. ;  death,  ii.  191  n., 
209  n.;  Douglas,  i.  377  «. ;  Garrick, 
i-  365  n.  ;  Good-Naturcd  Man,  i.  1 1  n. ; 
Hornecks,  Miss,  i.  221  «.,  344  «. ;  ii. 
318  71.;  Hum-drum  Club,  ii.  359  n.; 
Johnson  defends  him,  ii.  326  «. ;  — 
letter,  i.  215  ;  Lennox,  Mrs.,  ii.  115  w. ; 
letter-writing,  i.  65  «.,  215  n. ;  Literary 
Club,  ii.  50  M. ;  Newbery,  i.  23  «. ; 
posterity,  ii.  51  «. ;  print  of  him,  ii. 
108  ;  Scotch  scenery,  i.  251  «. ;  She 
Stoops  to  Conquer,  i.  214;  sufferings 
of  authors,  ii.  149  w. ;  suit  of  clothes, 
ii.  279  M. ;  takes  tea  with  Miss  Wil- 
liams, ii.  335  n. 

Gordon,  Sir  Alexander,  i.  235  n. 


454 


Index  to 


Gordon,  Duke  of. Hawkins,  Sir  John. 


Gordon,  Duke  of,  ii.  176. 

Gordon,  Lord  George,  ii.   166  n.,  167, 

172,  174  n. 
Gordon   Riots,  i.  402  «. ;   ii.  164  «., 

166-178- 
Gothick,  i.  246  n. 
GouGH,  Richard,  i.  301  ti. 
Gout,  i.  367,  403 ;  ii.  108,  338. 
Graevius,  i.  144. 
Grafton,  first  Duke  of,  i.  59  n. 
Grainger,  Dr.  James,  i.  215  «. ;  ii.  70  n. 
Grammarians,  ii.  440. 
Granger,  Rev.  James,  Johnson's  letter, 

i.  203. 
Grant,  Colonel,  i.  240  n. 
Grant,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  240  w.,  241  n. 
Granville,  George  vLord  Lansdowne), 

ii.  130  «.,  131,  190. 
Gravedo,  ii.  229,  245  7t. 
Gravesend,  ii.  319  «.,  322. 
Gray,  John,  bookseller,  i.  5  n. 
Gray,  Thomas,  Letters,  i.  317  ;  Life,  ii. 

180  «.,  189  n.,  315;  quoted,  i.  250  n. ; 

ii.  356  n. 
Greaves,  Samuel,  ii.  390  n. 
Green,  Richard,  account  of  him,  i.  161 

n.;   his  Aluseum,    186,   208,  331;    ii. 

91  ;  Johnson's  letter,  i.  340;  mentioned, 

ii-  I7>  55- 

Greens,  ii.  22  n. 

Greeves,  — ,  ii.  90. 

Grenville,  Right  Hon.  George,  John- 
son's letter,  i.  98. 

Grevil,  Dr.,  i.  178. 

Greville,  Richard  Fulke,  i.  60  n. ;  ii. 
7  «.,  146. 

Grief,  i.  171  n.,  212,  382-5;  ii.  4  «., 
67,  71,  209-12,  214-5. 

Grimm,  Baron,  i.  79  n. ;  ii.  365  n. 

Grotius,  ii.  14. 

Gunnings,  the  Miss,  ii.  122  n. 

Gwatkin,  Mrs.,  ii.  85  «. 

GwYNN,  Colonel,  i.  344  n. ;  ii.  318  «. 

GWYNN,  John,  ii.  15,  61. 

GwYNNE,  Nell,  ii.  302  7i. 

H. 

H ,  Miss,  ii.  298-9,  317. 

Hacket,  Bishop,  ii.  99  n. 
Hackney-coaches,  ii.  322. 


Hadley,  John,  ii.  117  n. 

Hagley,  i.  177. 

Hailes,  Lord  (Sir  David  Dalrymplej,  ii. 
150  ;;. 

Hall,  Mrs.,  i.  372 ;  ii.  57  «.,  392. 

Hamilton,  Archibald,  i.  30,  376  ;  John- 
son's letter,  i.  374. 

Hamilton,  William  Gerard,  Johnson's 
letter,  ii.  248  ;  kindness  to  Johnson, 
352,  368  ;  mentioned,  i.  314  ;  ii.  124  n., 
127  «.,  146. 

Hamilton,  Rev.  Dr.,  Johnson's  letters, 
ii.  296,  37S,  399. 

Hammond,  Rev.  Henr}',  D.D.,  i.  357; 
ii.  225. 

Hammond,  James,  ii.  159. 

Hampstead,  ii.  311. 

Hanmer,  Sir  Thomas,  ii.  131  n. 

Harborough,  Earl  of,  ii.  284  n. 

Harcourt,  Earl  of,  ii.  37. 

Harding,  Caleb,  i.  375. 

Hardy,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel,  Johnson's 
letter,  ii.  204. 

Harington,  Sir  John,  ii.  138  n. 

Harington,  Dr.,  i.  401  n. ;  ii.  138  n. 

Harley,  Alderman,  i.  304. 

Harris,  James,  ii.  4. 

Harris,  Mrs.,  ii.  5  n. 

Harris,  Thomas,  ii.  17  n. 

Harrison,  Rev.  Cornelius,  i.  225. 

Harrison,  —  (Johnson's  uncle),  i. 
225  n. 

Hartley,  H.  W.,  i.  3S6  n. 

Harvests,  (1772)  i.  192,  201  w.,  (1775) 
342,  (1777)  ii.  38. 

Haslang,  Count,  ii.  167  n. 

Hastings,  Warren,  i.  298  «.,  410. 

Hatherton,  Baron,  ii.  161  71. 

Hawes,  L.,  i.  25  n. 

Hawkesworth,  John,  LL.D.,  Adven- 
turer, i.  36  ;  effrontery,  56  n. ;  John- 
son's letter,  60  ;  — ,  correspondence 
with,  365  ;  Collected  Works,  412  n.  ; 
ii.  7-8;  Life  of  Sivift,  ii.  196;  Ivy 
Lane  Club,  364  n.,  390. 

Hawkesworth,  Mrs.,  i.  61 ;  ii.  7. 

Haw'KINS,  Sir  John,  Ivy  Lane  Club,  ii. 
359,  363-4  ;  Johnson's  dread  of  death, 
ii.  380  n. ;  —  preparing  himself  to  die, 
ii.  381  n. ;  —  executor,  ii.  407  n. ;  — 
funeral,  ii.  434  ;  —  letters,  ii.  358,  363, 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


455 


Hawkins,  John  Sidney Humm. 


412,  429;  —  letter  on  Mrs.  Piozzi's 
marriage,  ii.  406  n. ;  —  relations,  i. 
306  n.;  ii.  371  w  ,  431  n.  \  Taylor's 
preaching,  ii.  403. 

Hawkins,  John  Sidney,  ii.  3S7  n. 

Hay,  Sir  George,  i.  137. 

Hay-making,  i.  352. 

Hayward,  Abraham,  ii.  27  //.,  292  n., 
407  n. 

Head-dress,  i.  258;  ii.  25,  57. 

Heale,  ii.  328. 

Health,  duty  to  jjreserve  it,  i.  171. 

Hearken  after,  ii.  353  n. 

Hearne,  Thomas,  i.  132  n. ;  ii.  431  n. 

Heartwell,  — ,  i.  164. 

Heberden,  William,  M.D.,  account  of 
him,  ii.  95  «. ;  quoted,  229;  timidis- 
siniJis,  247  n. ;  house,  302  n. ;  John- 
son's physician,  302,  304,  307-8,  315, 

343,  367,  369,  371,  373-4.  380,  382-4, 

391;  — letters,  376,  423;  mentioned, 

ii.  97-8,  101-3. 
Hector,  Edmund,  Johnson's  letters,  i. 

41,   67,    72,    124,    202-3,    369,   377  ; 

—  early  friendship  with  him,  i.  71  n., 

73;    ii.    227  71.;   —  health,   ii.    228; 

name,  i.  164,  370  n. ;  niece  ill,  ii.  78; 

mentioned,  i.  305,  32S ;  ii.  17. 
Hector,  George,  i.  41  n. 
HfiELY,  Humphrey,  i.  306;  ii.  371. 
Heights,  desire  to  cast  oneself  down,  ii. 

440. 
IIelsham,  Richard,  i.  31. 
Henderson,  John,  ii.  434. 
Henry,  David,  i.  67,  69. 
Henry,  Patrick,  i.  67  «. 
PIerne,  Elizabeth  (Phoebe),  ii.  194,  206, 

^56  «•,  378- 
Herrings,  take  of,  ii.  277. 
Herschel,  William,  ii.  385. 
Hertford,    Earl    (afterwards   Marquis) 

of,  Johnson's  letter,  i.  389. 
Hervey,  Hon.  Henry,  i.  182  n. 
Hervey,  Mrs.,  i.  182  ;  ii.  49,  91. 
Hesiod,  i.  152. 
Hickman,    Gregorys,    Johnson's    letter, 

i.  I. 
Highwaymen,  i.  316  n. ;  ii.  70,  312  n., 

347- 
Hill,  Professor,  i.  232  n. 

Hill,  Mr.  Joseph,  i.  15  n. 


Hinchliffe,    John,   D.D.,    Bishop    of 

l^eterborough,  ii.  148  «.,  157  «.,  163. 
Hinckley,  Mrs.,  i.  132. 
Hitch,  C,  i.  25  n.,  58-9. 
Hoadley,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  i.  1S6  n. 
HoARE,  Henry  Merrick,  ii.  361  n. 
Hoc  age,  i.  337. 
Hock,  i.  52  71. 

HOCKLEY-IN-THE-HOLE,  ii.  30. 

Hodgson,  Brian,  ii.  234  «. 
Hogarth,  William,  i.  1S6  «. 
Holder,  — ,  ii.  434. 
HoLDERNESSE,  fourth  Earl  of,  i.  40S. 
Holland,  first  Lord,  ii.  227  «. 
HoLLOWAY,  Mr.  M.  M.,  i.  10  it. 
HoLLYER,  — ,  Johnsou's  letter,  i.  302. 
Home,  John,  i.  422. 
Homer,  ii.  440. 
Hoole,  John,  i.  314;  ii.  65,  85  «.,  1S3, 

250-1,  363  «.,  390,  392,  396,  434. 
Hoole,    Rev.    Samuel,    ii.  349  «.,   350, 

3I>6  71.,  414  71.,  434. 
Hooper,  — ,  i.  80  71. 
Hopkins,  Benjamin,  i.  408. 
PIorace,  quoted.   Odes,  i.   186,  277;  ii. 

78,  79>  255,  377  «• ;  ^af-y  ii-  44^  ;  Jipis., 
i.  246;  ii.  17,  116,  329  «. ;  Ars,  i. 
176. 

Horneck,  Mrs.,  ii.  5,  178-9,  221. 

Hornecks,  the,  i.  221  «.,  344;  ii.  318;/. 

Horseman,  — ,  ii.  359,  363. 

HoRSLEY,  Dr.  (Bishop  of  Rochester),  ii. 

434- 
Hoth.\m,  Sir  Richard,  ii.  154,  178. 
House  of  Commons,  election  of  1768, 

i.  132-4,    137;    purchase   of  seats,  ii. 

161,  203-4;  reform,  285. 
Howard,  Charles,  i.  82,  104,  107. 
Howard,  John,  Lichfield  Gaol,  i.  162  «. ; 

York  Gaol,  225  w. ;  calls  on  Johnson, 

ii.  394. 
Howard,  Mary,  i.  82  71. 
Howell,  James,  quoted,!.  257  «. ;  ii.  37, 

52   71. 

Hume,  'Dz.y\A,  prime  ininister,  i.  92  «.; 
prices  of  corn,  193  «. ;  at  Northaller- 
ton, 225  M.  ;  house,  229  «. ;  Scottish 
poets,  230  71.;  Strahan  an  M.P.,  300  «. ; 
at  Bath,  393  «. ;  letter  from  A.  Mac- 
donald,  41 8;  China-ware,  ii.  35  n. 

Htinun,  ii.  75. 


456 


Index  to 


Hunt,  Edward  and  Joseph Johnson,  Samuel. 


Hunt,  Edward  and  Joseph,  ii.  436. 
Hunter,  Dr.  William,  ii.  261,  339,  436. 
Hunter,  Mrs.,  i.  87,  138  n. 
HuTTON,  James,  ii.  175. 
Hutton,  William,   Baskerville's  life,  i. 

42    n.;    London    pavement,    234    n.\ 

coaches,  324  n.;  workhouses,  ii.  21  «. ; 

silk-mills,  35  n. ;  Journey  to  London, 

430  «.,  433. 
Hyde,  Justice,  ii.  170  ■«. 
Hyder  Ali,  i.  241  n. 
Hymers,  William,  i.  39  n. 
Hypochondria,  i.  358  n. 

I. 

Iceland,  ii.  320  n. 

Idea,  i.  297. 

Idleness,  i.  71. 

Idler,  i.  24  «. 

Ignoramus,  ii.  387. 

Ilam,  ii.  38. 

Illness,  i.  141  n. 

Illwiller,  ii.  182  n. 

Impey,  Sir  Elijah,  ii.  264  n. 

Improvement,  in  the  mind,  i.  362-5. 

Inappetence,  ii.  327  n. 

Inchkeith,  i.  230. 

Inch  Kenneth,  i.  279. 

India.    See  East  India  Company. 

Influence,  i.  107  n.;  ii.  145  «. 

Inge,  Mrs.,  ii.  325. 

Inge,  William,  ii.  325  w. 

Inimical,  ii.  314. 

Initiatory,  ii.  403  n. 

Invasion,  fears  of,  ii.  71  «.,  103,  109, 

114,  120. 
Inverness,  i.  241. 
Iona  (Icolmkill),  i.  282. 
Ireland,  i.  399  n. ;  ii.  264,  340. 
Irene,  i.  4,  11,  19  n.;  ii.  252  n. 
ISA,  i.  246  n.,  290. 
Island,  a  prison,  i.  256. 
Islington,  ii.  88. 
Italy,  i.  145;  ii.  192  n.,  389  n. 


Jackson,  Cyril  (Dean  of  Christ  Church), 

i.  408. 
Jackson,  Henry,  i.  376,  378  ;  ii.  20. 
Jackson,  Humphrey,  i.  192  «.,  213. 
Jackson,  Richardjohnson's  letter,  ii.  349. 


Jacobites,  English,  i.  259  n. 

Jamaica,  ii.  113,  125. 

James  V,  i.  265. 

James,  John,  i.  114  n.,  323  «.,  361  n.; 
ii.  227  n. 

James,  Robert,  M.D.,  Paul's  spinning 
machine,  i.  6,  7  n.,  58  n.;  pills  and 
powder,  8  «.,  23  n.,  52  n.\  Johnson's 
instructor,  49  n. ;  '  strange  fellow,'  58  ; 
deep  in  wine,  210;  anecdotes  of  him, 
211  n.;  Medical  Dictionary,  338  n. 

Jebb,  Sir  Richard,  M.D.,  ii.  148,  245-6, 

2.'i5.  315  «• 

Jenkinson,  Charles  (first  Earl  of  Liver- 
pool), i.  137  ;  ii.  18  n. 

Jennens,  Charles,  i.  214. 

Jennings,  Colonel,  ii.  174  n. 

Jews,  i.  331  n. 

Jodrell,   Richard    Paul,   ii.    133,    294, 

396. 

Johnson,  D.,  i.  83  n. 

Johnson,  Elizabeth  (Dr.  Johnson's  wife), 
Johnson's  letter,  i.  3;  property,  14; 
lodgings,  20  n. ;  grave,  61  n.  ;  ii.  411, 
429;  death,  i.  81  n.;  ii.  209,  248  n.; 
Johnson's  regret  for  her,  i.  369  w. 

Johnson,  Mr.  G.  H.,  i.  19  n. 

Johnson,  Michael  (Dr.  Johnson's  father), 
i.  83  n. ;  ii.  49  n. 

Johnson,  Nathanael  (Dr.  Johnson's 
brother),  i.  83  n. ;  ii.  237  «. 

Johnson,  Samuel,  absence  of  mind,  i. 
342  n. ;  actors,  i.  44  ti. ;  ^gri  Ephe- 
meris,  ii.  424  n. ;  air,  love  of  fresh,  ii. 
385  n. ;  ancestors,  i.  268 ;  anonymous 
publications,  i.  63  «.,  80  n. ;  appear- 
ance, i.  295  n. ;  ii.  6  «.,  328  n. ;  appe- 
tite, ii.  3S9 ;  Ashbourne,  visits,  i.  164, 
175.  i95>  340>  382  «.;  ii.  26,  93,  233, 
41 2  ;  associates  of  all  ranks,  ii.  414  n. ; 
attendance  required,  i.  142  n. ;  ii.  259 
n. ;  attention  shown  him,  ii.  369 ; 
autograph  letters,  prices  paid  for  them, 
i.  2,  3,  6,  8,  26,  40,  52,  54,  66, 
69,  70,  91,  118,  148,  168,  207,  215, 
222,  284,  307,  322,  387,  412,  413; 
ii.  7,  71,  208,  246,  254,  287,  370,  409, 
433 ;  autographic  memoranda,  ii.  399 
n.;  ball,  goes  to  a,  ii.  232;  Baltic 
expedition,  ii.  30 ;  Baretti's  Journey  to 
Spain,  i.  165  n.',  Bath,  visits,  i.  391  ; 


Letterz  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


457 


Johnson,  Samuel. 


belabours  his  confessor,  ii.  314  n.\ 
Bible,  reads  through  the,  ii.  271 ;  biogra- 
phers, i.  410  «.;  ii.  6  «. ;  Birmingham, 
visits,  i.  125,  164,  202,  225  n.,  328; 
"•  I?)  55)  228,  241;  birth,  i.  41  «. ; 
birthday,  i.  250;  ii.  33,  202,  332,420 
n. ;  bitter  speeches,  i.  72  ;  bleeding, 
see  below,  health ;  books  bound  by 
him,  ii.  89  n. ;  Boswell  attacked  by 
him,  ii.  65  «. ;  —  security  at  the 
Temple,  i.  316  ;  bow  to  an  archbishop, 
ii.  150  71. ;  breakfasting  in  splendour, 
ii.  103  n. ;  bred  a  bookseller,  ii.  89  ; 
Brighthelmstone,  visits,  i.  120,  155; 
ii.  58,  206,  273;  brothers  and  sisters, 
no,  i.  71,  3785  ii.  237;  bust,  ii.  59, 
62-3 ;  calculation,  love  of,  i.  243  n. ; 
ii.  45,  321  ;  Cambridge,  visits,  i.  1S3 
n.;  ii.  13  w. ;  candidate  for  a  master- 
ship, i.  1-3  ;  ii.  161  n. ;  carelessness, 
i.  204  n. ;  ii.  284  n.  ;  character  drawn 
by  himself,  ii.  314;  chemistry,  i.  179, 
183  ;  children,  indulgent  to,  ii.  183  n.\ 
church  attendance,  ii.  227  n. ;  clothes, 
i.  321,  322  ;  ii.  39,  145  «.,  220;  college 
life,  anecdotes  of  his,  ii.  440 ;  collo- 
quial barbarisms,  ii.  36  ;  composition, 
facility  of,  ii.  197  n. ;  confesses  his 
rudeness,  i.  351  ;  contraction  of  names, 
i.  276  n. ;  conversation,  hungry  for, 
ii.  419  w. ;  'conversion,'  ii.  385  n.; 
Cordelia's  death,  i.  11  n.;  corrects 
Robertson,  i.  412;  dates  to  letters,  ii. 
139  n.;  death-bed,  ii.  327  «.,  332  «., 
339  «.,  414  11.,  433 ;  death,  dread  of, 
ii.  231,  327,  351,  369,  380,  384,  404; 
—  mind  calmer,  ii.  423;  debts,  i.  19, 
20,  22-4,  28,  61,  75  n.;  delicacies 
sent  him,  ii.  391 ;  dictionary-making, 
i.  42  n.,  191  «.,  374  n.;  diet,  i.  52; 
ii.  101  n.,  104,  113,  128,  135,  143, 
146-7,  164,  181,  184,  189,  242,  24S  n., 
255,  314,  389,  424  n. ;  dinner-table,  ii. 
125  n.;  drawn  out,  needs  to  be,  ii.  392 
n.\  dreams  felicities,  ii.  32  n. ;  driving 
the  world  about,  ii.  397  n. ;  Dublin 
degree,  i.  123;  etymology,  i.  178  n.; 
eye-sight,  i.  57  ;  first  love,  i.  202  n. ; 
fox-hunting,  i.  349  n.;  ii.  25,  127  n.\ 
France,  trip  to,  i.  147  «.,  368-9,  37S, 
401    w.,  402 ;   ii.   272   n. ;   freeman   of 


Aberdeen,  i.  235  ;  French  phrases  and 
letters,  i.  50  w.,  150,  324,  355  «. ;  ii. 
179;  friends,  judging  them,  i.  21S  n.\ 
—  of  his  youth,  i.  41,  369,  376,  388  n. ; 
ii.  227  71.;  fruit,  ii.  34,  no,  400;  funeral, 
ii-  433-5;  'gang,'  i.  163;  garden,  ii. 
193,  307,  310  ;  Garrick's  funeral,  ii. 
84  M.  ;  genius,  his,  ii.  1S4;  gloomy 
lessons,  i.  339  n. ;  godfather  to  Lucy 
Thrale,  i.  140  n.,  153;  'good  and 
clubable,'  ii.  148  n.;  good-breeding, 
ii.  136  n.\  good-humour,  ii.  183  «. ; 
Gordon  riots  not  mentioned,  ii.  164 
11.  ;  great  coat,  i.  208 ;  great  chair,  ii. 
78;  green  pease,  ii.  400  n.\  habita- 
tions, Edial  Hall,  i.  139  n.;  Castle 
Street,  6;  Strand,  8;  Holbom,  16; 
Gough  Square,  18,  41  n. ;  Staple  Inn, 
86,  83  n. ;  Gray's  Inn,  88 ;  Inner 
Temple  Lane,  90;  Johnson's  Court, 
124 ;  Bolt  Court,  390 ;  Hampton 
Court,  i.  389  7i. ;  handAvriting,  i.  61 
;/.;  HEALTH,  ill,  (1755),  i.  45  ;  (1768), 
140;  (1769),  152;  (1770),  158;  (1771), 
171,  182;  (1773),  205,  208,  219; 
(1774).  298;  (1775),  faintness,  322, 
351;  (1776),  403;  (1778),  ii-  76,  82; 
(1779),  loi  ;  remission  of  convulsions, 
143  n.;  (1780),  better  than  for  twenty 
years  past,  162  ;  (1781),  ill,  229,  233  ; 
(1782),  279,  281;  {\'i'&z), genua  labaiit, 
289  ;  paralytic  stroke,  300 ;  sarcocele, 
335;  gout,  338;  (1784),  ill,  365;  relief 
from  dropsy,  384;  129  days  confined, 
392;  ill,  423,  429;  death,  433;  —  bled, 
i.  45,  91,  298;  ii.  1-2,  88,  135,  177, 
242,  246,  251  n.,  265,  403  n.  ;  —  strong 
physic  taken,  ii.  22,  76,  89,  93,  loi, 
116,  255,  294,300;  — dread  of  opiates, 
ii-  367,  376,  383 ;  effect  of  them,  ii. 
437  ;  —  did  not  yield  to  illness,  i.  378 ; 
hearth-broom,  ii.  223  n.;  home,  i.  129, 
141  n.  ;  hundred  pounds  made,  ii.  99  ; 
ignorance  of  character,  i.  383  n. ;  — 
of  natural  history,  ii.  325  n. ;  illiberal, 
ii.  167  «. ;  Inipraiisus,  i.  3;  inmates 
of  his  house,  ii.  42  n. ;  their  quarrels, 
ii.  70,  74-5,  77,  107,  122,  12S;  Italian, 
studies,  ii.  417;  Italy,  proposed  tour, 
i-  330  w->  379,  384  n.,  38S;  ii.  192. 
199;   Jack   the    Giant-killer,   i.    135; 


458 


Index  to 


Johnson,  Samuel Johnson,  Sarah. 


Johnsonese,  i.  251  «. ;  judge  of  poetry, 
ii.  390  n. ;  kangaroo  imitated,  i.  241  n. ; 
Latin  lessons,  ii.  98  n. ;  '  leans  to  some- 
body,' i.  51  n.,  82  ;  letter  of  reproof, 
ii.  306  n. ;  letter  written  for  Miss  Rey- 
nolds, ii.  84  n. ;  letter-writing,  i.  64  ; 
ii.  52,  374;  Lichfield,  visits,  (1739),  i. 
3«. ;  (1767),  128;  (1769),  154;  (1770), 
160;  (1771),  173,  183;  (1772),  191, 
201 ;  (1775),  328;  (1776),  380;  (1777), 
ii.  17,  48;  (1779),  92;  (1781%  228, 
240;  (1784),  421;  —  house,  i.  19  n., 
85,  99,  126,  162  71.;  —  theatre,  i.  385 
n.\  life,  unhappy,  i.  250;  —  clings 
lo  it,  ii.  335,  339  n.;  —  radically 
wretched,  ii.  407  ;  light  and  airy,  ii. 
116;  Lives  of  him  to  be  suppressed, 
ii.  6  w. ;  '  Master  of  the  Sentences,'  ii. 
224  n.;  melancholy,  i.  39,  69,  332  n. ; 
ii.  309;  memory,  ii.  132  n.;  mind, 
command  over  his,  i.  190;  —  not 
travelled  over,  ii.  50  n. ;  mother,  love 
for  his,  i.   20 ;    —   her  death,  75-86 ; 

—  bums  her  letters,  ii.  414  n. ;  '  Mr. 
Vagabond,'  ii.  7  n. ;  musing,  i.  359  «., 
388  n. ;  ii.  97  ;/. ;  neighbours,  ii.  295, 
309;  night-cap,  i.  245  n.;  nurse,  i. 
129  n.,  154  n.;  'Oddity,'  ii.  43  n.; 
Odyssey  never  read  through,  ii.  440 ; 
old  age  vigorous,  i.  305  ;  '  old  love,' 
i.  164;  opiates,  see  above,  under 
health ;  orange-peel,  i.  49  n. ;  Othello, 
i.  II  n. ;  Oxford  degrees,  i.  138  n.,  313  ; 
Oxford,  visits,  U754)>  i-  37;  (i755% 
38  n.;  (1763),  no;  (1764),  113; 
(1766),  127;  ',1767),  131;  (1768), 
132;  (1769),  152;  (1770),  158;  (1775), 

3",  323;  Ci777)>  ii-  15;  (i750>  226; 
(1782),  257;  ^1784),  398-400,  430; 
parentheses,  disapproved  of,  ii.  419  n. ; 
Passion  Week,  i.  188  ;  ii.  214  11. ;  pay- 
ments as  an  author,  i.  79  W- ;  pension, 
i.  93,  98 ;  ii.  433 ;  physic,  dabbles  in, 
i-  49  «•'  75.  219  71. ;  ii.  103,  165,  187, 
198,  201,  235,  303;  piety  slumbering, 
ii.  102  n. ;  Political  Ti'acts,  i.  390  w., 
392  ;  portrait,  at  Southwark,  i.  399  «, ; 

—  by  Reynolds,  ii.  62  «.,  70,  74,  259 
«. ;  —  by  Miss  Reynolds,  ii.  179,  300, 
327;  —  by  Opie,  ii.  330;  prayers,  ii. 
370  71.,  420  n. ;  prints  of  his  friends,  ii. 


70  71.,  108  ;  proud  to  have  his  com- 
pany desired,  i.  316;  Punic  War,  i. 
343 ;  read  hard  in  his  youth,  i.  364  it. ; 

—  like  a  Turk,  375  ft.;  —  in  his  old 
age,  ii.  289 ;  reading  books  through, 
i.  61  71. ;  relations,  i.  225,  302  ;  ii. 
430 ;  religion  not  to  be  received  from 
another,  i.  48,  49  «. ;  resolutions,  i.  47  k., 
250;  Rochester,  \isits,  ii.  319;  rumour 
of  his  death,  i.  48 ;  ii.  63  n. ;  schemes 
of  life,  ii.  300,  361  ;  school-fellows,  i. 
180;  Scotch  professors  afraid  of  him, 
i.  236,  291  71.;  Scotland,  visits,  i.  222- 
96;  setting  sun,  ii.  294  w. ;  silver 
coffee-pot,  ii.  262  ;  sleepless  nights,  ii. 
391;  solitary,  ii.  281,  289,  295,  297, 
300,  309,  326-7,  336-7,  344,  348,  357, 
363  n-,  367-8,  377  ;  Southwark  elec- 
tion, ii.  153  «.,  157  «.,  160;  style,  i. 
251  71.,  258  71.;  swimming,  i.  357  «.; 
talk,  ii.  157,  400  «. ;  tea-spoons,  i. 
156  n.;  ii.  335  ;;.  ;  Thrales,  friendship 
for  the,  see  under  Tiirale,  Henry, 
and  Thrale,  Hester  Lynch;  tolera- 
tion, against,  i.  319  ;  touchy,  ii.  78  «. ; 
town  his  element,  ii.  428  «. ;  travelling, 
love  of,  i.  347,  369;  'true-bom  English- 
man,' i.  238  w. ;  tutor  at  Hey  wood,  i. 
301  It. ;  ums  and  monuments,  ii.  33  «. ; 
useful  knowledge,  ii.  321  7t.;  Vattity 
of  HuviatiWishes,  ii.  51 «. ;  Verses,  on 
Mrs.  Carter,  i.  55  71. ;  —  Stow  Brook, 
161  «. ;  —  Taylor's  house,  165  «. ;  — 
Mrs.  Thrale,  284;  ii.  192  w. ;  —  Miss 
Thrale,  ii.  46  «. ;  —  Miss  Reynolds, 
113  71. ;  —  on  being  paralysed,  301  71.  ; 

—  translations  from  the  Atithologia, 
391  «. ;  walking-stick,  i.  278  «. ;  watch, 
i.  401  7t.;  weather,  i.  208;  ii.  233, 
373  71.,  416  71. ;  wife's  property,  i.  14  ; 

—  death,  ii.  67  ;  will,  ii.  115  7t.,  378  ; 
Winchester,  visits,  ii.  156;  wine,  use 
of,  i.  114  n.,  223  71.,  408;  writing 
easily,  i.  230  71. ;  youthful  years,  i.  129 ; 
ii.  185. 

Johnson,  Sarah  (Dr.  Johnson's  mother), 
threat  of  ejectment,  i.  19  7i. ;  Johnson's 
dread  of  her  death,  i.  20  ;  ii.  209  71 ;  — 
letters  to  her,  i.  75,  77-9  ;  —  infancy, 
i.  154  7t.\  book-trade,  i.  68,  83  «. ; 
death,  i.  75-S7  ;  birth,  ii.  437. 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


459 


Johnson,  Thomas Lee,  Arthui\ 


Johnson,  Thomas  (Dr.  Johnson's  cousin), 

i-  154^  15S-9.  302;  ii-  92. 
Johnson,  Rev.  \Villiana  Samuel,  LL.D., 

Johnson's  letter,  i.  209. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  (of  Torrington),  i.  94. 
Johnson,  —  (Dr.  Johnson's  cousin;,  ii. 

194,  206. 
Johnson,  —  (Reynolds's  brother-in-law), 

i.  94  n. 
Johnston,  W.,  i.  79  «.,  So  n. 
Jones,  Sir  William,  at  University  College, 

i.  113  «.,  118  «. ;  election  of  1780,  ii. 

155,  164;  Ode,  369  71. 
JORTIN,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  ii.  275. 
Journals,  i.  362  ;  ii.  27. 
Journey  to  the    Western  Islands  of  Scot- 
land, i.  248  «.,  300 ;  ii.  207. 
JowETT,  Rev.  Professor,  ii.  257  n. 
Junius,  ii.  108  n. 
Juvenal,   quoted,   ii.   no    «.,    226  «., 

304  n. 

K. 
Kangaroo,  i.  241  n. 
Kearsley,  George,  ii.  226,  254. 
Keddlestone,  ii.  35. 
Keith,  Admiral  Lord,  ii.  394  n. 
Kelly,  Hugh,  ii.  17. 
Kemble,  John,  ii.  345. 
Kennedy,  Mrs.,  ii.  96. 
Kennedy,  — ,  ii.  234. 
Kennicott,    Rev.    Benjamin,    D.D.,   ii. 

77  n. 
Kent,  Edward,  Duke  of,  i.  414  n. 
Keppel,  Mrs.,  ii.  173  n. 
KiLBY,  — ,  ii.  276  n. 
Kilmorey,  Lord,  ii.  351. 
King,  William,  D.C.L.,  i.  265  n. 
King,  Hon.  Mrs.,  i.  289  n. 
*  King's  Friends,'  i.  137  n. 
Kingsburgh,  i.  265. 
Kingston,  Duchess  of  (Elizabeth  Chud- 

leigh),  i.  390  n. 
Kinsderley,  Mrs.,  ii.  340. 
KiRWANS,  the  Miss,  ii.  173  n. 
Knapton,  J.  and  P.,  i.  25  n. 
Knowledge,  ii.  386. 
Knowles,  Mrs.,  i.  397  ;  ii.  403  n, 
Knox,  John,  i.  231. 


La  Bruyere,  i.  184. 


Labour,  ii.  439. 

Lacerate,  i.  212  «. 

Lade,  Lady,  i.  219  «.,  348  n. ;  ii.  28-9. 

Lade,  Sir  John,  i.  275  n. ;  ii.  28-9,  34, 

38,  191  M.,321  ;/.,  372  n. 
Ladies'  Charity  School,  i.   156;    ii. 

334  «• 
Lady,  i.  244  n. 

Lamb,  Charles,  Inner  Temple  Lane,  i.  91 
71. ;  Christ's  Hospital,  303  «. ;  Isling- 
ton, ii.  88  M. ;  '  Omniscient  Jackson,' 
349  71. ;  the  wind,  416  )i. 

Landor,  Waller  Savage,  Needwood 
Forest,  i.  165;  co7ttemplate,  ii.  21  «.  ; 
7i7ider  the  circuinsta7ices,  37  «. 

Langdon,  — ,  ii.  45. 

Langley,  Rev.  W.,  i.  189,  336,  347, 
352  ;  ii.  34,  269  71.,  280  «.,  282. 

Langton,  Bennet,  Captain  of  Militia,  ii. 
71  n.,  164;  children,  i.  393;  ii.  32, 
251,  317  ;  domestic  economy,  i.  393-4; 
Drawing-room,  at  the,  ii.  6  w. ;  John- 
son, attends,  ii.  305  ;  —  confessor,  ii. 
314  71.  ;  —  death,  ii.  332  n. ;  —  visits 
him,  ii.  315,  317,  319-20,322  ; —Latin 
verses,  ii.  391  w. ;  —  funeral,  ii.  434  ; 
mentioned,  i.  319  «.,  320,  414;  ii.  2, 

146,    156  71. 

Langton,  old  Mr.,  i.  171  71. 

Langton,  Mrs.,  ii.  40. 

Langton,  Miss,  Johnson's  letter,  i.  171. 

Last,  the,  ii.  48. 

Latin,  study  of,  i.  96-7,  108  ;  few  read  it 
with  ease,  ii.  440 ;  change  in  it,  ib. ; 
English  writers  of  it,  441. 

Laurence,  — ,  i.  396. 

Law,  Wilham,  i.  31,  52  «. 

Lawrence,  Mr.  H.  W.,  i.  91  «.,  316  n. 

Lawrence,  Miss,  ii.  141. 

Lawrence,  Thomas,  M.D.,  ancestry,  i. 
48  n. ;  djang,  ii.  265  ;  death,  ii.  299, 
301  ;  Johnson's  instructor,  i.  49  «.  ; 
—  physician,  i.  52,  298,  367;  ii.  x,  70, 
73,  76,  245  «•>  246,  251 «.;  255  ;  — com- 
panion, ii.  1 35  «•,  295.  309 ;  medical  trea- 
tises, ii.  304;  Thrale's  illness,  ii.  159; 
mentioned,  i.  51,  208,  219,  318;  ii.  22, 
67  «.,  102,  134,  137,  186,  189. 

Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  ii.  132  n. 

Leander,  ii.  439. 

Lee,  Arthur,  i.  397. 


460 


Index  to 


Lee,  Nathanael Lyttelton,  Williaro.  Henry. 


Lee,  Nathanael,  i.  207. 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  i.  397  n. 

Lee,  Thomas,  i.  397  n. 

Lee,  Alderman  William,  i.  397. 

Leek,  ii.  49. 

Leland,  Rev.  Thomas,  D.D.,  Johnson's 
letters,  i.  123,  316. 

Lennox,  Charlotte,  i.  26,  55  n. ;  ii.  115. 

Lenthall,  William,  ii.  261  n. 

Letter-writing,  ii.  52,  138,  193,  197, 
316,  427. 

Levett,  John,  Johnson's  letters,  i.  14, 
15,  16,  20  n.,  28 ;  —  debt,  19. 

Levett,  Robert,  accoimt  of  him,  ii.  243- 
4  ;  death,  ii.  33  n.,  290,  326  ;  heirs,  ii. 
243  ;  Johnson's  doctor,  ii.  i  ;  —  com- 
panion, ii.  295,  309,  357  n.,  368,  414 
n.\  old  age,  ii.  187,  193;  prudential 
intoxication,  i.  406  n.  ;  quarrels,  ii.  70, 
75,  77,  107,  122  ;  register  of  birth,  ii. 
39;  mentioned,  i.  276,  284. 

Levy,  — ,  ii.  151. 

Lewis  XIV,  i.  270  n. 

Lewis,  Dean  John,  ii.  310  n.,  383  n. 

Lewis,  Dr.,  ii.  33,  107. 

Lewis,  Mrs.,  ii.  310,  3i7  «•>  383,  393- 

Lewis,  W.,  M.B.,  ii.  303  71. 

Lewis,  — ,  ii.  196. 

Libraries,  i.  142-7. 

Lichfield,  Amicable  Society,  i.  331, 
336;  bills,  i.  162  n.;  Borowcop  Hill, 
i.  161 ;  cathedral,  i.  301  n. ;  changes, 
i.  154,  162  ;  city  of  philosophers,  ii. 
53  n. ;  conversation,  i.  335  ;  curfew,  i. 
358  ;  Evelina  not  heard  of,  ii.  234  ; 
gaol,  i.  162  n.  ;  Green  Hill,  i.  363 ; 
Green  Hill  Bower,  ii.  92 ;  Jacobite, 
i.  259  11. ;  Johnson's  house,  i.  19  n.  \ 
Palace,  i.  100;  races,  ii.  24,  25  ;  rates, 
i.  162  ;  Stow  Hill,  i.  160,  363 ;  ii.  46  )i. ; 
Three  Crowns,  i.  99. 

Life,  its  tediousness,  i.  271;  consists  of 
little  things,  ii.  19  ;  schemes,  361. 

Lilly  lolly,  ii.  44. 

LisGOW,  Tom,  i.  206. 

Literature  in  1773,  i.  210. 

Littleton,  Sir  Edward,  ii.  i6r. 

Lives  of  the  Poets,  undertaken,  ii.  13  ;  ma- 
terials, ii.  13,  15,  156;  progress  of  the 
work,  ii.  68,  130,  132,  154,  175, 185-6, 
1S8-9,  191;  assistance  sought,  ii.  18S-9  ;    ! 


finished,   ii.  207;   copies  sold,  ii.  iii; 

—  given  away,  ii.  89,  220,   222,  2S7  ; 

—  sent  to  the  king,  ii.  87  ;  copy  and 
proof-sheets,  ii.197  ;  dirty  silver  scoured, 
ii.  46  n. ;  index,  ii.  80-1 ;  Johnson  not 
editor  of  the  Poets,   ii.    158,  275  11.; 

—  kept  in  town,  ii.  163;  —  payment, 
ii.  99  «.,  208,  275  n.\  — writes  part 
at  Lichfield,  ii.  46  n. ;  new  edition,  ii. 
275;  octavo  edition,  ii.  218;  parodied, 

ii-  315- 

Lleweney  Hall,  ii.  81  n. 

Loch  Lomond,  i.  286. 

Loch  Ness,  i.  241. 

Locke,  John,  i.  131  ;  ii.  306  n. 

London,  extent,  i.  53  n. ;  pavement,  234  ; 
London  Bridge,  ii.  117  ;  ii.  319  n. 

London  Cuckolds,  i.  185  n. 

London  shopkeeper,  i.  233. 

Longman,  T.  and  T.,  i.  25  n. 

Lord  Mayors,  ii.  57  n. 

LoRT,  Rev.  Dr.,  i.  397  n.;  ii.  388  n. 

Loudoun,  Earl  of,  i.  291  ;  Countess,  ib. 

Lovelace,  i.  22  n. 

Lowe,  Mauritius,  Johnson's  letters,  ii. 
66,  226,  242,  274,  305  ;  mentioned,  ii. 
203,  293,  338,  434. 

LowTH,  Miss,  ii.  327  n. 

Lowth,  Robert,  D.D,,  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, i.  226  n. ;  ii.  187,  327  n. 

Lucan,  Countess  of,  ii.  65, 105,111, 113, 
121,  141,  146,  155,  160. 

Lucan,  first  Earl  of,  ii.  65, 105,  151, 153, 

369- 
Lucas,  Charles,  M.D.,  ii.  10  «. 

Lucas,  Henry,  ii.  9. 

Lucid  interval,  ii.  377. 

Lucy,  Thomas,  i.  24. 

LuMLEY,  James,  i.  205  n. 

LuNARDi,  ii.  419. 

Lye,  Rev.  Edward,  Johnson's  letter,  i. 
121. 

Lysons,  Samuel,  ii.  403. 

Lyttelton,  George,  first  Lord,  Miss 
Boothby  and  Johnson,  i.  46  n. ;  death, 
288;  Life,  ii.  188,  196-8,  217  n. 

Lyttelton,  Thomas,  second  Lord,  i. 
288. 

Lyttelton,  William  Henry  (Lord  West- 
cote),  i.  177;  ii.  20.  See  under  West- 
cote,  Lord. 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


461 


Macartney,  Earl  of. Melmoth,  William, 


M. 

Macartney,  Earl  of,  ii.  143  n. 

Macaulay,  Mrs.,  ii.  397  n. 

Macaulay,  Thomas  l^abington  (Lord 
Macaulay),  Baskerville's  editions,  i.  42 
n. ;  Coote,  Sir  Eyre,  i.  241  n. ;  Fowke 
and  Warren  Hastings,  i.  410  n. ;  Fox's 
East  India  Bill,  ii.  358  n. ;  Great-uncle, 
1.  240  n.  ;  Jofmsonese,  i.  251  n.;  Pitt's 
Ministry,  ii.  370  n.,  375  n. ;  Sir  Charles 
Graiidison,  i.  22  n. 

MaCBEAN,  Alexander,  wager,  i.  30  ; 
starving,  319;  no  business,  ii.  76; 
index  to  the  Lives,  81  ;  admitted  to 
the  Charter-house,  213;  death,  404. 

Macbeth,  i.  239,  241. 

Macculloch,  Dr.,  ii.  349  n. 

Macdonald,  Sir  Alexander  (first  Lord 
Macdonald),  i.  238,  244,  252,  264,  285 
n.,  290. 

Macdonald,  Sir  Archibald,  i.  418. 

Macdonald,  Flora,  i.  265. 

Macdonald  of  Kingsburgh,  i.  274  n. 

Mackenzie,  Lady  Caroline,  i.  59  n. 

Mackenzy,  Mrs.,  i.  205  n. 

MACKINNON,  Lachlan,  i.  255  n. 

Maclean,  Sir  Allan,  i.  280. 

Maclean,  Dr.,  i.  275  n. 

Maclean,  Miss,  i.  260  w. 

MACLEOD,  Colonel,  i.  257,  268. 

MACLEOD,  Flora,  i.  257. 

MACLEOD,  John.     See  Raasay. 

MACLEOD,  Lady,  i.  244-6,  267  ;  ii.  235  n. 

MACLEOD,  old  Laird  of,  i.  249,  266. 

MACLEOD,  Laird  of,  i.  244,  246,  259, 
262,  264,  266;    Johnson's  letter,  260. 

MACLEOD,  Malcolm,  i.  255,  259,  262, 
265. 

Macleod  of  Macleod,  Miss,  i.  245  «., 
289. 

Macmillan,  Mr.  Alexander,  ii.  134  n. 

Macpherson,  James,  Johnson's  letter, 
i.  307. 

Macpherson,  Sir  John,  ii.  170  v. 

Macquarry  of  Ulva,  i.  279. 

Macqueen,  Rev.  Donald,  i.  269  n. 

Macraes,  The,  i.  249. 

Madox,  — ,  ii.  270. 

Maintenon,  Madame  de,  ii.  179. 

Maisonfort,  De  la,  Madame,  ii.  1 79  n. 


Malmesbury,  first  Earl  of,  i.  336  n. 

Malone,  Edmond,  Boswell's  security, 
i-  3^7 >  Johnson's  payment  for  the 
Lives,  \\.  208  11. ;  —  roasting  apples,  ii. 
289  n. ;  —  relations,  ii.  430  «. ;  — funeral, 
ii.  434 ;  Piozzi's  marriage,  ii.  407  n. ; 
Spence's  Anecdotes,  ii.  133  n.;  Supple- 
ment to  Shakespeare,  ii.  141  n. 

Malt,  price  of,  i.  194,  291. 

Maltsters,  1.  174. 

Manning,  Rev.  Owen,  i.  121  n. 

Mansfield,  first  Earl  of,  Clarendon 
trustee,  i.  313  ;  under  all  the  circum- 
stances, ii.  37  n. ;  judge  at  Foote's 
trial,  56  n.;  Gordon  riots,  167-8; 
meets  Dr.  Brocklesby,  437. 

Manucci,  Count,  i.  392-3,  395,  398. 

Mamtfactory,  ii.  377  71. 

Marclew,  — ,  i.  154  M. 

Marie  Antoinette,  i.  369. 

Markham,  William,  D.D.  (Dean  of 
Christ  Church,  afterwards  Bishop  of 
Chester  and  Archbishop  of  York),  i. 
3i3>  323,  377>  409  n.,  418;  ii.  150. 

Markland,  Jeremiah,  ii.  276. 

Marlborough,  i.  385. 

Marriage,  i.  102,  217. 

Married  Women's  Property  Act, 
ii.  218  n. 

Marshall,  William,  i.  165-6  n. 

Marshalsea,  i.  306. 

Marsigli,  Dr.,  ii.  94. 

Martial,  quoted,  ii.  55  n. 

Mary  I,  ii.  437. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  i.  104  n.  •  ii.  40S. 

Marylebone  Gardens,  ii.  74  n. 

Mason,  Rev.  William,  i.  317,  318  n.  ; 
ii.  286  It. 

Mass-house,  ii.  167  n. 

Mathias,  ^,  i.  159  ;  ii.  134. 

Matlock,  i.  165. 

Matter  of ,  i.  176  «. 

Mawbey,  Sir  Joseph,  i.  137  ?/.,  333-4. 

Maxwell,  Dr.,  ii.  29S. 

Mayor,  Professor  John  E.  B.,  i.  10  n. 

Meagre,  i.  403  w. 

Measures  not  men,  i.  1 1  ;;. 

Meat,  prices  of,  i.  193  n. 

Mediterraneatt,  i.  237  «. 

Mei,  Cavalier,  i.  294  n. 

Melmoth,  William,  ii.  14S  n. 


462 


Index  to 


Mercers,  Company  of. Myddelton,  Colonel. 


Mercers,  Company  of,  Johnson's  letter, 

ii.  290. 
Merry  doings,  ii.  116,  230. 
Metaphysical  Distresses,  ii.  252  n. 
Metcalfe,  Philip,  ii.  345,  388,  434. 
Meteors,  ii.  334. 
Methodists,  i.  136  n. ;  ii.  138  w. 
Meyer,  Doctor,  i.  319. 
Meynell,  Miss,  i.  46  «. 
M'Ghie,  Dr.  William,  ii.  364  n. 
MiCKLE,  William   Julius,   i.    214,  422  ; 

ii.  400  «.,  434. 
Middleton,  Eail  of,  i.  236  n. 
MiDDLETON,  Lady  Diana,  i.  236. 
Middleton,    Rev.   Conyers,    D.D.,   ii. 

95  «• 
Middleton,  — ,  ii.  181. 
Milbourne,  Luke,  ii.  69. 
Mill,  Sir  Thomas,  ii.  123  n. 
Mill,  ii.  35  n. 
Millar,  Andrew,  i.  25  n.,  27,  37  «.,  62, 

89  ;  ii.  61  n. ;  Johnson's  letter,  i.  30. 
Miller,  Lady,  ii.  138  «. 
Miller,  Miss,  i.  133  «. 
MiLLiKEN,  Mr.  W.  E.,  i.  59  n. 
Milton,  John,  'Me  miserable,' i.  185  «. ; 

early  pieces,  ii.  8  11.  ;    Life,  68,   1 14  ; 

quoted,  Paradise  Lost,  i.  279  11.  ;  ii.  75, 

126,  329  ;  Sonnets,  ii.  233. 
Mind,  its  management,  i.  105,  112,  189, 

293.  294,  375  ;  "•  99.  102,  144,  165, 

265-6,  317  ;    knowledge  of  it,  i.  353  ; 

history  of  it,  i.  362 ;    improvement  in 

it,  i.  362-5  ;  concentrated,  ii.  27S. 
Mind  of,  i.  314,  343;  ii.  191. 
Ministry,   Lord  North's,  i.   311,   344; 

ii.  177,  249;    Coalition,  ii.  358,   370; 

Pitt's,  374. 
Miscellany  Poems,  ii.  224  w. 
Modena,  Duke  of,  ii.  339  n. 
MOLli;RE,  quoted,  ii.  51. 
Monboddo,    Lord    (James    Burnet),    i. 

23.'.;  ii-  H9>  .W6  n. 
Monckton,    Hon.    Miss    (Countess   of 

Corke),  ii.  151,  157,  252. 
Money,  transmission  of  it,  i.  77  n. ;   tied 

up  in  trade,  218  ;  great  effect  of  it,  272 

n.  ;  scarce,  ii.  87,  100,  120. 
Montagu,  Mrs.,  charity,  i.  87  n.,  371 

n.;   ii.  64,  190;    compared  with  Mrs. 

Thrale,    ii.    153;    described    by    Miss 


Burney,  ii.  132  n.  ;  Essay  on  Shake- 
speare,\\.  138;  Johnson's  letters,  i.  87- 
8>  295,  370-1  ;  ii.  63-4,  336 ;  — 
dropped,!.  372  «. ;  ii.  139  n.,  353  n.; 
—  reconciled,  ii.  336,  340  ;  par pluribus, 
ii.  149;  print,  ii.  70,  88;  mentioned, 
i-  383,  391;  ii-  24,  140-1.  148  n., 
157  n.,  295. 

Montrose,  i.  233. 

Moore,  Edward,  ii.  149. 

Moore,  Dr.  Norman,  ii.  159,  229  n. 

Moore,  Thomas,  ii.  252  n. 

More,  Hannah,  Bas  Bleu,  ii.  390 ;  Bas 
Bleu  Society,  ii.  136  n.\  best  of  the 
female  versifiers,  ii.  328  n. ;  Johnson's 
admiration  of  her,  i.  55  n.  ;  —  drawn 
out,  ii.  250  n. ;  —  at  Mrs.  Garrick's, 
ii.  251,  294  n. ;  —  at  Oxford,  ii.  257- 
260;  Ord,  Mrs.,  ii.  144  w.,  146  «.  ; 
Vesey,  Mrs.,  ii.  88  n. ;  Wheeler's  death, 
ii.  327  n.;  mentioned,!.  239  n.,  392 
«. ;  ii.  396  71. 

Moreton,  John,  i.  132  n. 

Morgan,  Rev.  Mr.,  ii.  404  n. 

MORICE,  Peter,  ii.  117  n. 

Morison,  Dr.,  i.  94. 

MORLANDS,  ii.  49. 

Moss-trooper,  i.  248. 

MosTYN,  John  Meredith,  ii.  5 1  n. 

Mountstuart,  Lord,  i.  396  n. 

MOYSEY,  Abel,  M.D.,  ii.  133,  135. 

Muck,  Isle  of,  i.  267. 

MuDGE,  John,  i.  93  n.;  ii.  338,  343, 
346. 

MuDGE,  Thomas,  i.  93  71. 

MuDGE,  William,  i.  93  «. 

MuDGE,  Rev.  Zachariah,  i.  93  «. 

Mull,  Isle  of,  i.  278. 

MuLSO,  Miss.     See  Chapone. 

Muinin,  ii.  87,  385. 

Murphy,  Arthur,  Thrale's  friend,  i.  12^, 
344 ;  letter  to  Mrs.  Thrale,  387  n.  ; 
Foote's  Life,  ii.  55;  xasits  Johnson, 
31 3  ;  mentioned,  i.  31 3  n.  ;  ii.  77,  396  n. 

Murray,  John,  ii.  18  «. 

Murray,  —  (Lord  Hendcrland),  i.  365  n. 

MusGRAVE,  Mr.  ^afterwards Sir)  Richard, 
i.  399  n. ;  ii.  294,  298,  373. 

Music  lessons,  ii.  148  «. 

Mutiny  Act,  i.  194  «. 

Myddelton,  Colonel,  ii.  33  n. 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


46; 


Nairn Oxford. 


N. 

Nairn,  i.  240. 

National  Debt,  i.  386  n. 

Neai.,  Fordyce  &  Co.,  i.  192  n. 

Neat,  i.  233  n. 

Needwood  Forest,  i.  165. 

Nelson,  Admiral,  ii.  11 1  n. 

Nelson,  Robert,  ii.  89. 

JVet-vous,  ii.  359. 

Nesbitt,  Mrs.,  i.  219  «.,  221  ;  ii.  94  n., 
160. 

Newark,  i.  224. 

Newbery,  John,  Johnson's  letters,  i.  22- 
4;  mentioned,  69. 

Newcastle,  i.  227,  320  n. 

Newdigate,  Sir  Roger,  i.  137  ;  ii.  155. 

Newgate,  ii.  168-9. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  ii.  325  n. 

Newton,  Rev.  John,  ii.  385  «. 

Newton,  Thomas,  D.D.,  Bishop  of 
Bristol,  i.  94  n.,  206  ;;.  ;  ii.  20  n. 

Newton,  — ,  i.  84  n. ;  ii.  20. 

NiCHOLLS,  Frank,  M.D.,  ii.  401. 

Nichols,  John,  Johnson's  letters,  ii.  68, 
80,  81,  130-1,  158-9,  iSo,  195-7,  205, 
218,  220,  241,  273,  275,  281,  387, 
431;  —  J^i'ves,  ii.  132  «.,  138;  — 
Rambler  in  Russian,  ii.  377  n. ;  — 
funeral,  ii.  434;  Anecdotes,  ii.  274; 
History  of  Hinckley,  ii.  281. 

Nicholson,  Miss,  ii.  405  n. 

NicoL,  George,  ii.  434,  438. 

Nitikin,  Basilius,  ii.  377  n. 

Noah's  Ark,  ii.  322. 

Nollekens,  Joseph,  ii.  59,  62  n.,  69. 

NoRRis,  — ,  ii.  218. 

North,  Frederick,  Lord  (second  Earl  of 
Guilford),  Conciliatory  Propositions, 
i.  311  n.  ;  expenses  of  war,  386  ti.; 
Almanac  Bill,  ii.  76  n. ;  Gordon  riots, 
166  M.,  167  n.,  170;;.;  Ireland,  264  n. 

North  Pole,  i.  210. 

Northallerton,  i.  225. 

Northcote,  James,  Abington,  Mrs.,  i. 
316  n.  ;  Cumberland  the  dramatist,  ii. 
Ill  «.  ;  Jack  the  Giant-killer,  i.  135  n.  ; 
'  Jessamy  Bride,'  i.  344  «. ;  Lowe's 
picture,  ii.  293  n. ;  Opie,  ii.  330  ??.  ; 
Reynolds,  introduced  to,  i.  93  n.  ;  — 
difference   with   his  sister,  ii.   84   n.  ; 


Reynolds's,     Miss,     oil    paintings,    ii. 

327  n. 
Northumberland,    first    Duke   of,    i. 

157  n.,  228,  414. 
Norton,  Sir  Fletcher  (Baron  Grantley\ 

i.  116  n. 
Norton,  — ,  i.  333,  406. 
Nuncomar,  i.  410  n.  ;  ii.  263  n.,  289  n. 

O. 

Odyssey,  quoted,  ii.  440. 

Officiousness,  ii.  357. 

Offley  Place,  i.  292  n. 

Ogle,  Mrs.,  i.  88. 

Oglethorpe,  General,  i.  243  n.,  392. 

Old  age,  i.  401  n.  ;  ii.  212. 

Old  Bailey,  ii.  65, 

Omont,  Mr.  H.,  ii.  410  n. 

Opie,  John,  ii.  330. 

Opinions,  i.  364. 

Oppian,  ii.  410. 

Orchards,  ii.  2071. 

Ord,  Lord  Chief  Baron,  i.  229. 

Ord,  Mrs.,  ii.  144,  146,  149,  179,  183. 

Orkney,  Coiintess  of,  ii.  Si  n. 

Orrery,  fourth  Earl  of,  ii.  196  n. 

Orrery,  fifth  Earl  of,  i.  26  ;  ii.  196. 

OsBORN,  Mrs.,  i.  206  n.,  258  n. 

Otho,  i.  361. 

O'TooLE,  Arthur,  i.  204. 

Otway,  —  (a  schoolboy,  i.  214. 

OuGHTON,  Sir  Adolphus,  i.  229. 

Overstone,  Lord,  i.  10  n. 

Oyid,  quoted  :  Ars  Amat.,  ii.  34  «.,  iSi  ; 
Fast.,  i.  162  ;  Her.,  i.  130  ;  ii.  79  ; 
Meta.  i.  197,  226  ;  ii.  48,  96  «.,  329, 
367  ;  Zli-w/.i.  130,  the  uniformity  of  the 
sun  (?sea),  ii.  525;  compared  with 
Virgil,  ii.  440. 

Owen,  Henry,  ii.  410  n. 

Owen,  Miss,  ii.  4,  5  «.,  124  «.,  183  «., 
184,  189. 

O.XFORD,  amusements,  i.  330 ;  Angel 
Inn,  ii.  226  ;  Balliol  College,  i.  132 
n.  ;  Bodleian,  i.  42  n.  ;  ii.  77,  423  ; 
caution,  i.  114  n.;  Christ  Church, 
i.  418-420;  Clarendon  Laboratory, 
i.  309  n.;  Clarendon  Press,  i.  115  «., 
309  n.  ;  ii.  131 7t.  ;  climate,  ii.  258  n.  ; 
coaches,  i.  142  n.  ;  coffee-houses,  i. 
419  ;    degrees  by  diploma,   i.    138  n., 


464 


Index  to 


Oxford Physic. 


313  11.  ;  election  of  1/68,  i.  137  ;  — of 
1780,  ii.  155  ;  expenses  of  an  under- 
graduate, i.  114,  418;  Gentlemen 
Commoners,  i.  418  ;  Jesus  College,  ii. 
257  «.,  261  n.  ;  Lincoln  College,  ii. 
16  n.  ;  Long  Vacation,  i.  361  ;  ii.  227  ; 
mansion  of  the  liberal  arts,  ii.  53  ; 
morning  chapel,  i.  323,  420  ;  New  Inn 
Hall,  i.  132  ;  Oriel  College,  i.  135  ; 
Pembroke  College,  Johnson,'s  caution- 
money,  i.  114  n.  ;  —  studied  there,  i. 
402  ;  —  and  H.  More  visit  it  in  1782, 
ii.  258  ;  —  visits  it  in  1784,  ii.  400  n.  ; 
—  portrait,  ii.  259  «.  ;  —  Buttery  books, 
ii.  438  ;  Queen's  College,  i.  114  n.,  323 
n. ;  ii.  227  n.,  377  n. ;  Radcliffe  Library, 
ii.  77  n.  ;  Riding-School,  i.  309  w.,  323, 
327, 329, 349, 377  ;  scholastic  ignorance, 
ii.  16  ;  '  thirds^  i.  114;  University  Col- 
lege, i.  113,  323,  420;  Workhouse,  ii. 
21  n. 


Page,  PVancis,  i.  137;  ii.  155  n. 

Page,  Miss,  i.  95. 

Pain,  i.  141. 

Palgrave,  — ,  ii.  256  n. 

Palladio,  Andrew,  ii.  325  n. 

Palmers,  the  Miss,  ii.  85  n. 

Palmerston,  second  Viscount,  ii.  313  n. 

Pannartz,  ii.  438. 

Pantheon,  i.  337  n. 

Paoli,  General  Pascal,  Johnson  dines 
with  him,  i.  315,  392  ;  ii.  65,  107, 
389  n.  ;  —  loves  to  dine  with  him, 
ii.  292  ;  —  funeral,  ii.  434 ;  Boswell 
lodges  at  his  house,  i.  317. 

Paracelsus,  ii.  53. 

Paradise,  John,  i.  314;  ii.  2,  183,  250, 

305-  325-6,  396,  434- 
Paradise,  Mrs.,  i.  314  n. 
Parents,  i.  217,  336  n. 
Parker,  Rev.  Mr.,  ii.  46  n. 
Parker,  Sackville,  ii.  228,  258. 
Parnell,  Thomas,  i.  248. 
Parterre,  ii.  22  n. 
Participle  present,  i.  384  n. 
Passage,  ii.  257. 
PATRIOT.S,  ii.  363  n. 
Patten,  Rev.   Dr.   Thomas,   Johnson's 

letter,  ii.  224. 


Paul,  Dr.,  i.  6  n. 

Paul,  Lewis,  Johnson's  letters,  i.  6,  8, 

45,  52,  54,  58-9,  65-7,  69-70  ;  death, 

125  ;  lettertotheDukeof  Bedford,  417. 
Paymistress,  ii.  419. 
Payne,  Mr.  E.  J.,  i.  11  n. 
Payne,   John,  ii.   363  n.,  364  ;/.,  411, 

421-2,  428-9. 
Pearce,  Zachary,  Bishop  of  Rochester, 

i.  34  «• 
Pearson,  George,  i.  85  n. 
Pearson,  Rev.  John  B.,  i.  85  n. ;  ii.  86, 

382. 
Pease,  ii.  181  n. 
Pelle,  Mrs.,  ii.  378,  399. 
Pembroke,  tenth  Earl  of,  i.  396  n. 
Pennick,  Rev.  Richard,  Johnson's  letter, 

i-  133- 

Pepys,  Sir  Lucas,  ii.  106,  184,  209  ;?., 
315  «.,  386  «. 

Pepys,  Samuel,  ii.  136  n.  ;  341  n. 

Pepys,  William  Weller,  ii.  136,  157,  183, 
306. 

Percy,  Mrs.,  i.  90,  414  n. 

Percy,  Thomas,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Carlisle, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Dromore,  Johnson's 
letters,  i.  89,  91,  156,  414  ;  P cliques,  i. 
89  11.  ;  ii.  328  n.  ;  Vicarage,  i.  121  n.  ; 
sermon,  157  «. ;  Johnson  in  Sky,  285  n. ; 
Chaplain  to  George  III,  414  n.  ;  men- 
tioned, i.  227  ;  ii.  70  n.,  399  11. 

Pcrequitate,  ii.  178. 

Perkins,  — ,  superintendent  of  Thrale's 
Brewery,  i.  398,  401  n.  ;  ii.  199  ;  aims 
at  a  partnership,  ii.  213-4,  216,  219, 
222;  Gordon  riots,  ii.  171  «.,  178; 
robbery,  ii.  347  ;  health,  ii.  48  n.,  238, 
254  n. ;  Johnson's  letter,  ii.  222  ;  men- 
tioned, i.  2\in.;  ii.  100,  145  «.,  151  n., 
152  n.,  312,  352. 

Perks,  Thomas,  i.  14. 

Pero  Grulla,  i.  180  n. 

Persius,  quoted,  i.  64  n.  ;  ii.  226  n. 

Petrus  de  Maximis,  ii.  438. 

Petticoat  Government,  ii.  141. 

Peyton,  — ,  i.  319,  385. 

Philips,  Ambrose,  ii.  180,  325. 

Phillidor,  F.  a.  D.,  ii.  80  m. 

Phipps,  Captain  Constantine  (Baron 
Mulgrave),  i.  210,  293. 

Physic,  profession  of,  ii.  21  n. 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


465 


Physical Printing  House  Square. 


Physical,  i.  75  n. 

Physiognomy,  ii.  343. 

Piozzi,  Gabriele,  death,  ii.  37  «.  ;  gentle- 
man by  birth,  160  n. ;  Johnson's 
mention  of  him,  238,  240,  251,  368  «., 
406-7  ;  hastens  to  England,  401  «., 
405  n. ;  charges  against  him,  408  n. 
See  also  under  Mrs.  Thrale,  husband. 

Pirates,  case  of  two,  ii.  173. 

Pitt,  R.,  i.  403  m. 

Pitt,  William.    See  Chatham,  Earl  of. 

Pitt,  William  (the  son),  motion  for 
Reform,  ii.  285  n.  ;   ministry,  370  n., 

374- 
Plato,  i.  374  ;  ii.  88. 
Pleasure,  preconceived,  i.  339. 
Pleiades,  i.  166. 
Plumb,  Fanny,  i.  219  n. 
Plunkett,  — ,  ii.  122  n. 
PococK,  Lewis,  i.  307. 
PoLHiLL,  Nathaniel,  ii.  154. 
Polish  oats,  i.  352,  354. 
Political  Pamphlets,  ii.  208. 
POLWHELE,  Rev.  Richard,  ii.  330  n. 
PoLYBius,  i.  115  n. 
PoMFRET,  John,  ii.  185  n. 
Pompadour,  i.  80. 
Pompous,  i.  236  n. 

Pope,  Alexander,  coadjutors  in  his  Homer, 
ii.    156  ;    Miscellanies,     158    n.,   Life, 
196-7;    quoted:   Dunciad,   ii.   93   n.  ; 
Elegy,  &c.,  ii.  327  ;  Eloisa,&cc.,  i.  281  ; 
Epitaphs,  ii.  195  n.  ;   Essay  on  Man, 
ii.  224 «.,  238,  244,  393  ;  MoralEssays, 
ii.  303  ;  Odyssey,  ii.  50  «.  ;  Rape  of  the 
Lock,  ii.  320   n. ;    Sat.  and  Epist.,  i. 
248  M.  ;  ii.  51  n.,  157  «.,  178  n. 
PoRSON,   Richard,  Posterity,    ii.   52    n.  ; 
Markland's    house,    276  n. ;     Charles 
Bumey,  396  n. 
PoRT-wiNE,  i.  50  n. 
Porta,  Baptista,  ii.  388  n. 
PORTEOUS,  Captain,  i.  25  n. 
Porter,  Captain,  i.  96. 
Porter,  Harry,  i.  15  n. 
Porter,   Lucy,   elder  brother's   heir,    i. 
98  ;    younger  brother's  death,  ii.  348, 
351  ;  Hammond  on  the  Psalms,  i.  357  ; 
ii.  225  n.  ;    'hoary  virginity,'  1.   129; 
house,  i.  85  «.,   96  «.,  99,  358  ;    ill, 
i-  328-9,  331  ;  ii-  230>  233  ;   Johnson's 
VOL.  n.  H 


affection  for  her,  i.  51  k.  ;  —  improved, 
i.  176  ;  — -mother,  i.  75-87  ;  —  presents 
to  her,  i.  Ill  ;  ii.  135  ;  —  Prologue, 
ii.  17  ;  — reception,  i.  154,  173,  180-1, 
184.  191.  34i>  359  ;  ii-  228,  232  ; 
—  letters,  i.  18,  76,  78,  81-7,  90,  92, 
96,  98-9,  III,  125,  127,  138,  148, 
158-9-  367  ;  ii-  59>  62,  83,  86,  129, 
i34>  308,  34S,  381,  395;  'Mrs.' 
Porter,  i.  367  ti.  ;  present  from  Mrs. 
Thrale,  i.  358  ;  temper,  i.  335  ;  men- 
tioned, i.  5,  13,  15  ;  ii.  92,  185. 

Porter,  —  (Lucy  Porter's  second 
brother),  1.  139  n.,  159  ;  ii.  134,  348. 

Porter,  Mrs.  (the  actress^,  i.  44  ;  ii.  344. 

PoRTEUS,  Beilby  (Bishop  of  Chester  and 
of  London),  i.  321  n.  ;  ii.  234,  250, 
278  n. 

Post,  general  post,  i.  76  n.  ;  Aberdeen, 
233  ft.  ;  Sky,  244  ;  Mull,  278  ;  Oxford, 
310,  312,  325  ;  Lichfield,  332  n  ,  359  ; 
Brighton,  ii.  41  n.,  126,  211  n. ;  Bath, 
211;  postage,  i.  71,  78  n.,  137  n., 
161  n.  ;   franks,  ii.  19,  94  n-,   123  n., 

389- 
Post-chaise,  i.  328  ;  ii.  100. 
Posterity,  ii.  51. 
Pott,   — ,   a    surgeon,    ii.   339,    342-4) 

346-7- 
Powell,  — ,  ii.  298  n. 
Practising  and  teaching,  ii.  235  n. 
Prayers,  ii.  290. 
Premier,  i.  92  n. 
Pretender,  ii.  161  n. 
Pretender,  the  Old,  i.  13  «. 
Pretender,    the    Young,    invasion    of 

England,    i.   227    «.,  247;    ii.   50  «. ; 

joined    by    Laird    of  Raasay,    i.    258  ; 

wanderings,    i.    255,    265  ;    meanness, 

265  n.  ;    designation  proper  for  him, 

ii.  161  n. 
Price,  Rev.  John,  ii.  77  «. 
Priestley,  Dr.  Joseph,  ii.  362  n. 
Prijean,  Mrs.,  i.  205  n. 
Prime  Minister,  i.  92  n. 
Prince  of  Wales   (afterwards  George 

IV),  his  preceptors,  i.  40S  ;  ii.  149  «.  ; 

Mrs.  Sheridan,  ii.  252  ;  Ro3'al  Academy 

dinner,  393. 
Printing,  i.  146. 
Printing  House  Square,  ii.  272  «, 

h 


466 


Index  to 


Prior,  Sir  James Richard  I. 


Prior,  Sir  James,  i.  350  n. 

Prior,    Matthew,    Life,   ii.    130,    132  ; 

quoted,  i.  352  ;  ii.  31. 
Prisons,  Lichfield,  i.  162  n. ;  York,  225  ; 

Marshalsea,  306 ;  London  prisons  burnt, 

ii.  16S-170. 
Problematical,  ii.  57. 
Proby,  Dean,  ii.  24. 
Prometheus,  i.  201. 
Prophecy  by  action,  ii.  204. 
Prowse,  Miss  (afterwards  Mrs.  Rogers), 

Johnson's  letters,  ii.  193,  206,  219,  256, 

378  ;  her  answer,  379  n. 
Prujean,  — ,  ii.  83. 
Psalmanazar,  George,  ii.  433. 
PuGET,  — ,  ii.  274  n. 
Pulsation,  ii.  369. 
Purse,  — ,  ii.  173  n. 
Put  by,  i.  149  M. 

Q- 

Queensberry,  Dowager  Duchess  of,  i. 
309  n. 

R. 
R — ,  Mr.,  ii.  199. 

Raasay,  Isle  of,  i.  244,  254,  257,  263-4. 
Raasay,  Lady,  i.  257. 
Raasay,   Laird   of,   (John   Macleod),  i. 

256-9^  318. 
Rambler,  i.  17  «.,  29  «.,  63  «. ;   ii.  296. 

377- 
Ramsay,  Allan,  ii.  65,  106-7,  146,  149. 
Ramsay,  John,  of  Ochtertyre,  i.  234  «., 

244  n.,  277  w. 
Ranby,  John,  i.  4  n. 
Ranelagh,  i.  306  n. 
Rann,  John,  ii.  63  n. 
Jiasselas,  i.  79,  87  n. ;  ii.  372  «.,  408  n.  ; 

in  Italian,  i.  294;    French,  i.  324  «. ; 

Russian,  ii.  3*^7  n. 
Ravenscroft,  Edward,  i.  185  n. 
Rawunson,  Dr.,  ii.  274. 
Reading  and  writing,  ii.  294  n. 
Reed,  Isaac,  ii.  363  w. 
Rees,  Rev.  Abraham,  D.D.,  i.  374  n. 
Reformation,  i.  74. 
Regatta,  i.  336-9,  343. 
Rejuvejtesccncy,  ii.  56. 
Relation,  ii.  371  n. 
R cliques,  i.  253  «. 


Remembered,    pleasure    of    being,    i. 

209. 
Rcprehe7tso7y,  ii.  232. 
Resolution,  ii.  99  n. 
Restes,  i.  401. 
Review,  ii.  236  n. 
Revolution  Club,  i.  229  n. 
Reynault,  Francis,  i.  191  n. 
Reynolds,    Frances,    conversatione,    ii. 

179;    difference    with   her   brother,    ii. 

84  «.,  397  ;  Johnson's  letters,  i.  93,  1 10, 
389.  39i>  407.  4";  ii-  84,  100,  107, 
179,  22T,  223,  249,  337,  346,366,  395, 
397  ;  — ,  letter  to,  i.  407  n. ;  —  por- 
trait, ii.  179,  300,  327;  lodgings,  ii. 
85;  'Mrs.'  Reynolds,  i.  411  n.\  oil- 
paintings,  ii.  327  71.  ;  Paris,  visits,  i. 
150  n.  ;  —  pictures  bought  there,  ii. 
221  ;  portrait  of  Miss  Williams,  ii. 
335  «•;  'Renny,'  ii.  113  n.,  121,  201  ; 
voyage  proposed,  i.  no  w.  ;  writings, 
ii.  180,  223,  249,  395,  398  ;  mentioned, 
i.  206  ;  ii.  62,  251. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  Barry's  attack,  ii. 
293  ;  chariot,  ii.  85  «. ;  Crabbe,  the 
poet,  ii.  287  «.,  288  ;  Dyer's  portrait, 
ii.  108  n.  ;  Goldsmith's  epitaph,  i.  407  ; 
Gordon  Riots,  ii.  167  n.,  168  n. ;  house 
at  Richmond,  i.  400  ;  ii.  201  n.  ; 
Johnson's  executor,  ii.  407  n.  ;  — 
dines  with  him,  ii.  325-6  ;  —  drawn 
out,    ii.    439  ;    —  funeral,    ii.  434-5  ; 

—  indebted  to  him,  i.  76  «.  ;  —  let- 
ters, ii.  280,  286-7  j  —  Lives  of  the 
Poets,  ii.  189,  287  ;  —  portraits,  ii. 
62  n.,  70,  74,  259  ;/. ;  Lawrence, 
Thomas,  ii.  132  n.  ;  Literary  Club,  ii. 
312  n.;  Lowe's  picture,  ii.  293  n.; 
Mason's   Epistle,    ii.    286  ;    nieces,   ii. 

85  ;/.  ;  portrait  of  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 
ii.  326  n.  ;  Rasselas,  i.  79  n.  ;  Royal 
Academy,  ii.  250  n.,  294,  393  n.  ; 
sister,  difference  with  his,  ii.  84  ;/.,  397  ; 

—  oil-paintings,  ii.  327  u. ;  Streatham 
portraits,  i.  232  «.  ;  voyage,  i.  no  n. ; 
mentioned,  i.  94,  122  «.,  206;  ii.  i,  4, 
65,  66,  III  w.,  113,  116,  146,  149,186, 
318  «.,  335  n.,  369. 

Rhenish,  i.  52  «. 
Rice,  Mrs.,  i.  219  «. 
Richard  I,  i.  74. 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


467 


Richardson,  Samuel Scotland  and  the  Scotch. 


Richardson,  Samuel,  Clarissa,  i.  21  «., 
22  ;;.,  35,  395  n. ;  Sir  Charles  Grandi- 
son,  i.  22  n.,  34  n.  ;  Dartmouth,  Lord, 
ii.  291  M.;  Dublin  '  pirates,'  i.  13  «.;  flat- 
tery, love  of,  ii.  43  n. ;  '  honest  Joseph,' 
"•  7.5  j  Johnson's  letters,  i.  21,  33-4, 
67.  61  ;  —  neijjhbour,  ii.  295,  309  ; 
Mulso,  Miss,  ii.  141  ;  'winding,'  ii.  43. 

Riches,  effect  of,  ii.  394  n. 

aider's  British  Alerliji,  ii.  76. 

Ritchie,  D.,  i.  258  n. 

RiTTER,  Joseph,  i.  241  «.,  285  n. 

RiVAROL,  i.  150  n. 

RiviNGTON,  John,  Johnson's  letter,  i. 
168. 

Rizzio,  David,  i.  228. 

Robert  of  Doncaster,  i.  224. 

Roberts,  G.,  i.  145  n. 

Robertson,  Rev.  William,  D.D.,  John- 
son at  Edinburgh,  i.  228  ;  —  corrections, 
412  ;  dozuned,  ii.  73  «, 

Robinson,  Rev.  Hastings,  ii.  18  «. 

Robinson,  Henry  Crabb,  ii.  149  n. 

Robinson,  Rev.  R.  G.,  ii.  18  ii. 

RoBSON,  — ,  ii.  217-8. 

Rochefoucauld,  ii.  54,  421. 

Rochester,  ii.  319. 

Rockingham,  Marquis  of,  ii.  261  «., 
264  n. 

Rogers,  Dr.  John,  ii.  353  n. 

Rogers,  Rev.  J.  M.,  ii.  194  n.,  378  «., 

379  «■ 
Rogers,  Mrs.    See  Prowse. 
Rogers,  Samuel,  i.  288  n. 
Kolliad,  i.  333  u. 
Roman    Catholics,    i.    264,   401    n. ; 

ii.  166-8. 
Rome,  i.  343  n. 
RoMiLLY,  Sir  Samuel,  i.  226  «. 
RoONEY,  John,  i.  123  n. 
Rose,  Dr.,  ii.  325. 
Rothes,   Lady   (B.  Langton's   wife),  i. 

172  ;  ii.  32  n.,  36  «.,  251. 
Rothes,  Lady  (wife  of  Sir  Lucas  Pepys), 

ii.  36  «.,  251. 
Rousseau,  i.  263  n. 
Rout,  ii.  59  n. 
Row,  ii.  239. 
RowE,  Nicholas,  quoted,  ii.  32,  136,  139  ; 

Life,  132  n.,  140  ;   poems,  158. 
Royal  Academy,  Cadell  printer  to  it, 

H 


ii.  61  n. ;  Johnson  at  the  dinner  (i78o\ 
146,  150  ;  (1782),  250  ;  (1783),  292-4  ; 

(i784)>  392-3.  423- 
RUDD,  Mrs.,  i.  395,  399  71. 
Ruffhead,  Owen,  ii.  196. 
Ruffles,  ii.  6  n. 
Ruggle,  George,  ii.  387. 
Russia,  ii.  377. 
Rustication,  ii.  320, 
Ryland,  John,  Johnson's  letters,   i.   56, 

412,  413  ;  ii.  7,  411,  419,  421-2,  428  ; 

—  funeral,  ii.  434  ;  Ivy  Lane  Club,  ii. 

358,  363- 
Rymer,  Thomas,  ii.  69,  248. 

S. 

Saivt-Fond,  Faujas,  i.  223  n. 

Saint  Martin,  ii.  192. 

Sale,  George,  ii.  149  n.,  432. 

Salisbury,  ii.  328,  342. 

Salisbury,  first  Marquis  of,  ii.  1.57  n. 

Salter,  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel,  ii.  364  n. 

Salusbury,  Rev.  G.  A.,  ii.  27  w. 

Salusbury,  John,  i.  12S  n. 

Salusbury,  Lady,  ii.  391  n. 

Salusbury,  Mrs.,  Thrale's  letter,  i.  98  n. ; 
Johnson's  letter,  12S;  —  feelings  to- 
wards her,  196  n. ;  house  robbed,  163, 
165  ;  loan  to  Thrale,  192  n.  ;  ill,  149, 
172,  180,  195,  199,  200,  203,  211-4, 
216-8,  220-1;  epitaph,  323,  327,  328. 

Salusbury,  Miss  (Mrs.  Thrale),  i.  98  «. 

Salusbury,  SirThomas,  i.  193,  195,  198, 
277,  289,  292  ;  ii.  391  n. 

Salute,  i.  265  n. 

Sandys,  George,  i.  367. 

Sastres,  Francesco,  ii.  246,  279,  434; 
Johnson's  letters,  ii.  414,  416,  418,  425, 
427. 

Savage  life,  i.  233,  263. 

Savile,  Sir  George,  ii.  168. 

Saxby,  — ,  ii.  21  n. 

Sayer,  — ,  i.  406. 

Scarsdale,  first  Baron,  i.  189  «.,  347  ;  ii. 

35  ^^•■,  394  «• 
Scholars,  dedications  to,  ii.  225. 

vSchwellenberg,  Mrs.,  ii.  5  n. 

Scotland  and  the  Scotch,  abused,  i. 
224  n.\  beggars,  i.  240;  cabbages,  i. 
235  ;  expense  of  travelling,  i.  271  ;  fees, 
i.    235;    Gordon   riots,  ii.    166,    176; 

h  2 


468 


Index  to 


Scotland  and  the  Scotch Shelburne,  Earl  of. 


green  pease,  ii.  400  n. ;  knives  and 
forks,  i.  272  n.\  names  of  gentlemen, 
i.  256;  plaids,  i.  234;  scenery,  i.  250  ; 
shoes,  i.  235,  239;  trees,  i.  238,  242  ; 
turnips,  i.  277;  worse  England,  i.  317 
n.  Highlands:  bag-pipes,  i.  270; 
boats,  264;  books,  255,  267;  bread, 
249,  259,  272  ;  cattle,  275  ;  clans,  order 
of,  280;  crops,  274;  custom-houses, 
271;  dress,  274;  emigration,  263; 
estates,  266  ;  —  rents  raised,  247  ;  fu- 
nerals, 282  «. ;  houses,  251,  260,  273; 
knives,  272;  meals,  271-3;  ministry, 
269  ;  roads,  242 ;  sea,  254;  silver,  257  ; 
singing-birds,  251  ;  snuff,  249  ;  uniform, 
250;  weather,  274,  286;  whisky,  273; 
wild  looks  of  natives,  249. 

Scots  Magazine,  i.  25  «. 

Scott,  John  (first  Earl  of  Eldon),  Univer- 
sity College,  i.  113  «.,  312  n. ;  spelling 
of  his  name,  366  11. ;  Gordon  riots, 
ii.  169  n. ;  house  in  Gower  Street, 
193  «. 

Scott,  Mrs.,  i.  219  n. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  Miss  Seward,  i.  10  «. ; 
Scotch  houses,  260  w. ;  smuggling,  271 
n. ;   clans,    280   n. ;    Miss   Burney,    ii. 

355  n. 

Scott,  Dr.  William  (Lord  Stowell),  Uni- 
versity College,  i.  113  ».,  311  n.,  420; 
election  of  1780,  ii.  155,  164;  Gordon 
riots,  169  ;  Johnson's  letter,  288  ;  — 
executor,  407  n. ;  —  funeral,  434  ;  men- 
tioned, i.  138  «.,  366. 

ScRASE,  — ,  i.  348  «.,  395  ;  ii.  56,  78,  1 1 1, 
115,  119,  127,  129,  176,  183,  185,  189, 

217-9- 
Scrimshaw,  Charles,  ii.  430. 

Scrupulosity,  ii.  144  n. 

Sculptures,  i.  145  n. 

Seaforth,  last  Earl  of,  i.  59  n. 

Secker,  Archbishop,  i.  121  n. 

Security,  ii.  162  n. 

Sedgwick,  — ,  i.  376. 

Seignelai,  Marquis  of,  i.  270  n. 

Selwin,  — ,  ii.  106  n. 

Selwyn,  George,  i.  313  n.;  ii.  168  n. 

Seneca,  ii.  93  n. 

Sensibility,  i.  385  «. 

Servants,  i.  391  n. 

Seton,  Sir  Henry  Wilinot,  ii.  84  n. 


Settlement,  law  of,  ii.  297. 

Seward,  Anna,  account  of  her,  i.  10  «., 

139  «.,  340  n.;  Johnson  and  Dodd,  ii. 

18  «. ;    —  Lives,  46   n.\   mentioned, 

ii-  232,  397  n. 
Seward,  Sarah,  i.  139  n. 
Seward,  Rev.  Thomas,  i.  10  «.,  68  n., 

185. 
Seward,  William,  valetudinarian,  i.  346  ; 

ill,    ii.    33 ;    visits  Edinburgh,  35    n. ; 

Johnson's  bow,    150  n.;  goes  abroad, 

298  ;  attacks  Piozzi,  352  n. ;  Johnson's 

funeral,  434;  mentioned,  i.  398  ;  ii-94, 

133,  137  «->  426. 

Shaftesbury,  third  Earl  of,  i.  6  n. 

Shakespeare,  William,  cast  of  his  face, 
i.  331 ;  Henry  VIII,  ii.  345  «. ;  John- 
son's edition  :  subscribers,  i.  64,  68,  73, 
117  n.,  123-4;  — Proposals,  i.  68  «. ; 
— •  Garrick's  suffrage  sought,  i.  117; 
—  P'rench  translation,  i.  150  «. ;  — ad- 
ditions, i.  168-9;  Merchant  of  Venice, 
ii.  346  n. ;  his  merit,  ii.  440;  quoted  : 
Cymbeline,  ii.  334 ;  Hamlet,  i.  186,  334, 
398;  ii.  29,  255  ;  I  Henry  IV,  ii.  42, 
92  «.,  125,  140;  2  Henry  IV,  i.  i8o«. ; 
ii.  41 ;  3  Henry  VI,  i.  177;  Henry 
VIII,  i.  271 ;  King  John,  i.  353  n. ; 
Julius  Ccesar,  ii.  41 ;  Love's  Labour's 
Lost,  ii.iS ;  Macbeth,  ii.  414  n.;  Measure 
for  Measure,  ii.  368  n. ;  Merry  Wives, 
8cc.,  ii.  55  ;  Midsummer  AHghfs Dream, 
ii.  276  n.;  Much  Ado,  &:c.,  i.  348; 
Richard  II,  ii.  140  n.,  217  n. ;  Richard 
III,  ii.  353  n. ;  Tivelfth  Night,  ii.  20T  ; 
Winter's  Tale,  ii.  176  n. 

Shakespeare,  a  racehorse,  i.  341  ;  ii.  43. 

Shanvelle  [?],  Rev.  Mr.,  ii.  434. 

Sharp,  Samuel,  ii.  329  n. 

Sharp,  — ,  ii.  434. 

Sharpe,  Mrs.,  i.  229  n. 

Sharpe,  Miss,  ii.  251. 

Shaw,  Rev.  William,  i.  412  n. 

Shaw,  — ,  i.  397;  ii.  193. 

Sheffield,  Lord  and  Lady,  ii.  210  «., 
252. 

Shelburne,  second  Earl  of,  account  of 
persecution  of  Catholic  priests,  i.  402 
n.;  prime  minister,  ii.  261  n.,  269; 
attacks  Burke,  263  ;  knew  Johnson,  ib. ; 
mentioned,  ii.  81  n.,  349  n. 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


469 


Shelburne,  Dowager  Countess  of. Stonehenge. 


Shelburne,   Dowager   Countess  of,   ii. 

81  n. 
Shelley,   Sir  John,   Bart.,  ii.  44  n.,  73, 

202. 
Shelvock,  — ,  ii.  432. 
Shenstone,  William,  i.  89  n. ;  ii.  217  n., 

259  n. 
Sheridan,  Mrs.,  ii.  252. 
Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley,  ii.  161  «., 

252  n. 
Sheward,  Mrs.,  ii.  310,  314. 
Shipley,  Jonathan,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  St. 

Asaph,  i.  400 ;  ii.  146,  149,  157,  250. 
Shrewsbury,  Duchess  of,  i.  151  n. 
SiBBALD,  Sir  Robert,  i.  362  n. 
Siberian  barley,  i.  352. 
SiDDONS,  Mrs.,  ii.  345,  393  n. 
Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  i.  166;  ii.  331. 
Sidney,  Sabrina,  i.  160  n. 
Simeon,  Sir  John,  Bart,  i.  10  n. 
Simpson,  Joseph,  i.  29. 
Sinclair,  Rev.  John,  i.  267  n. 
Sixteen-string  Jack,  ii.  63  n. 
Skrimage,  ii.  164. 
Sky,  Isle  of,  i.  244,  253,  274. 
Slains  Castle,  i.  236. 
Smallbroke,  Dr.,  i.  106. 
Smelt,  Leonard,  ii.  146  n.,  149. 
Smith,  Adam,  Glasgow  and  Brentford, 

i.  291  n.;  importation  of  fruit,  ii.  20  n.; 

life   at   Kirkaldy,  i.   230  «.;    London 

pavement,  i.  234  w. ;   malt,  i.   174  n.\ 

opinions  of  others,  ii.  369  n. ;  prices  of 

corn,  i.  193  n. ;  scrupulosity,  ii.  144  n. ; 

sympathy,  i.  141  «. ;    Wealth  of  Natio7ts 

reviewed,  i.  413  n. 
Smith,  Henry,  ii.  210  «.,  216  «.,  219  w. 
Smith,  John  Thomas,  ii.  63  w.,  433. 
Smith,  Lady,  i.  329,  335,  336  n. ;  ii.  93. 
Smith,  Mrs.,  i.  298. 
Smith,  — ,  Johnson's  letter,  i,  167. 
Smollett,  Commissary,  i.  286,  323. 
Smollett,  Tobias,  Baretti's  account  of 

him,    i.     286    n.;    Humphry    Clinker 

quoted,  i.  224  n.,  385  «. ;  Jacobites,  i. 

259  n. ;  monument,  i.  286. 
Soho  Square,  i.  88. 
Solitude,  1.  131,  337. 
Solomon,  Nathan,  ii.  340  «. 
Sorocold,  —  ii.  117  n. 
Sortes  Virgilianae,  ii.  169  «.,  239  n. 


South,  Rev.  Robert,  D.D.,  ii.  183  «.,  428 
«.,  439. 

Southwark,  elections,  i.  133-4,  137? 
ii.  145,  151-4,  160,  203;  Thrale's 
house,  i.  195  n.;  —  The  Tower,  i. 
314  n. ;  —  Johnson's  places,  i.  398  ; 
—  robbery,  ii.  347  ;  Gordon  Riots,  ii. 
177-8. 

Southwell,  Edmund,  i.  206  n. 

Southwell,  Frances,  i.  205. 

Southwell,  second  Lord,  i.  205  n. 

Southwell,  Liicy,  i.  205. 

Southwell,  Mrs.,  i.  316;  ii.  151,  153. 

Southwell,  Viscount,  ii.  202  n. 

Southwell,  Viscountess,  Johnson's  let- 
ter, ii.  202. 

Spain,  prejudice  against  Jews,  i.  317  «. ; 
language,  ii.  37  ;  prisons,  394. 

Spalding  Society,  ii.  275  n. 

Speke,  Captain,  i.  240  «. 

Spence,  Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  133,  156. 

Spencer,  Countess,  ii.  65,  11 1,  369. 

Spencer,  second  Earl,  ii.  111  «.,  369  n. 

Spii'itual  Quixote,  i.  46  n. 

Sporting  Magazine,  ii.  30  it.,  400  n. 

Spottiswoode,  Andrew,  ii.  259  n. 

St.  Andrews,  i.  231. 

St.  Cross,  i.  122. 

St.  Helens,  Lord,  i.  46  ;/. 

St.  John's  Gate,  i.  66. 

St.  Margaret's  Hill,  ii.  171  «. 

Staffordshire,  i.  397  ;  ii.  20  «. 

Stanhope,  Philip,  ii.  113  «. 

Stationers'  Company,  ii.  76  n. 

Steele,  Sir  Richard,  i.  154. 

Steevens,  George,  Chatterton's  poems, 
i-  398  ;  Johnson's  carelessness,  i.  204 
n. ;  ii.  284  n. ;  —  at  Marylebone 
Gardens,  ii.  74  k.  ;  —  Lives,  ii.  221  ; 
—  intimate  with  him,  ii.  242  ;  — 
funeral,  ii.  434;  Shakespeare,  i.  117  n., 
168-9,  215  «. ;  mentioned,  ii.  294,  315. 

Stephen,  Sir  Fitzjames,  i.  410  n. 

Sterne,  Lawrence,  Tristram  Shandy,  i. 
224  w. 

Stevenson,  — ,  i.  108. 

Stewart  (or  Stuart),  Francis,  i.  25,  28. 

Stockdale,  Rev.  Percival,  i.  42  «.,  191 
n.,  374  n. 

Stocks,  ii.  340. 

Stonehenge,  ii.  340. 


470 


Index  to 


Stonhewer,  Richard Taylor,  Rev.  John. 


Stonhewer,  Richard,  ii.  256  n. 

Strachan-Davidson,  Mr.  J.  L.,  i.  1 15  w. 

Strahan,  Rev.  George,  Abingdon  School, 
i.  95,  158;  character,  i.  95,  115  w. ; 
difference  with  his  father,  ii.  267,  272, 
278,  283  ;  Franklin's  ad\nce,  ii.  283  «.; 
Johnson's  letters,  i.  95,  97,  100,  108, 
118;  ii.  267,  272,  283-4,  425;  — 
funeral,  ii.  434 ;  Macleod's  tutor,  i. 
262;  University  College,  i.  113;  Vicar 
of  Islington,  ii.  88,  267  n. 

Strahan,  Mrs.,  i.  31;  ii.  134,  211  n.\ 
Johnson's  letter,  ii.  433. 

Strahan,  William,  Cadell's  partner,  ii. 
61  n.;  corrects  Hume  and  Robertson, 
i.  413  «. ;  difference  with  his  son,  ii. 
267,  272,  278,  283  ;  Franklin's  letter, 
ii.  283  n.;  Gordon  Riots,  ii.  167,  170; 
Johnson's  letters,  i.  25,  27,  28,  32, 
37.  79.  113.  297,  300,  303,  309-12, 
412  ;ii.  203,  207,276,278,318;  King's 
Printer,  i.  115  n.;  ii.  272  «. ;  member 
of  Parliament,  i.  300;  franks  Johnson's 
letters,  ii.  274;  mentioned,  i.  17  «., 
67  M. ;  ii.  1 16-7,  255. 

Streatfield,  Miss,  ii.  69  «.,  72. 

Streatham,  Johnson's  home,  i.  129, 
141  «. ;  coterie,  166  «.;  library,  232; 
blue-room,  257  ;  improvements,  332, 
346,  360 ;  described  by  S.  Bumey  and 
Prior,  350  «.;  picture  of  it,  396; 
island,  ii.  310. 

Streatham  Village,  spring  of  water, 
i.  178  «. ;  habits  of  depredation,  ii. 
312. 

Strickland,  Mrs.,  i.  401. 

Strickland,  —  i.  206  «. 

Style,  new,  i.  6  n.,  76  n. 

SuLPicius  Severus,  ii.  192. 

Sumner,  Rev.  Dr.,  i.  394  «. 

Surgeons,  i.  162  «. 

Su7-vivance,  i.  216  n. 

Sussex,  i.  395  n. 

Sutile  Pictures,  i.  397. 

Sutton,  —  i.  331  n. 

SuvoROFF,  Prochore,  ii.  377  n. 

Swan,  Dr.,  ii.  130  n. 

Sweynheym,  ii.  4 38. 

Swift,  Jonathan,  Baucis  and  Philemon, 
ii.  96  n.\  Faulkner,  George,  i.  13  «., 
316  «. ;  flattered,  i.  221  n.;  giddiness, 


ii.  no  It.  ;  Journal  to  Stella,  i.  151  n.\ 
Letters,  i.  317  n.\  Life,  ii.  196;  On 
the  death  of  Dr.  Siuift,  ii.  54  n.,  147, 
192,  302,  404  «.,  421  n. ;  Presto,  i.  151  ; 
riui  out,  ii.  229  n. ;  Stella,  i.  6  ;;.  ; 
ii.  192  «.  ;    Tale  of  a  Tub,  i.  178  n. 

Swinfen,  Mrs.,  i.  54  n. 

SwiNFEN,  Samuel,  M.D.,  i.  6  n.,  54  ;/. ; 
ii.  73  n.,  207. 

SwiNTON,  John,  ii.  431. 

Sydenham,  Thomas,  M.D.,  ii.  131. 

Sympathy,  i.  141,  170  w. ;  ii.  28,  124, 
215.  237. 


T. 


Tacitus,  quoted,  ii.  297. 

Talbot,  Dr.,  i.  322. 

Talisker,  i.  268. 

Talk,  ii.  19. 

Tatler,  ii.  352. 

Taxation   no  Tyranny,  i.  308-11,   314, 

329- 

Taxes,  i.  202  «. 

Taylor,  John  (the  Water  Poet),  i.  204  n. 

Taylor,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  bleeding,  ii. 
160,  401-3  ;  Boswell  laughs  at  him,  ii. 
31  ;  bull-dog,  i.  340 ;  cattle,  i.  160, 
166,  175,  178,  182,  197,  341,  347;  ii. 
43,  45,  47,  49  ;  chaise,  i.  180;  Devon- 
shire family,  i.  12;  ii.  10;  growing 
old,  ii.  95  ;  heir,  i.  379  n. ;  house  and 
grounds,  i.  165,  179,  346;  ill,  i.  175; 
ii.  97,  Id,  355,  357,  362;  Johnson, 
feelings  towards,  and  Johnson's  feelings 
towards  him,  i.  184,  350,  353,  356-7, 
369  ;  ii.  240  ;  —  letters,  i.  10,  40,  64, 
70,  101-7, 109,  112, 119, 122, 156,  160, 
188-91,   207,   222,  296,  304,  307,  314, 

368,  372.  375.  379-So.  3S7,  390.  408; 
ii.  9,  10,  loi,  loS,  143,  165,  247,  261- 
6,  269-71,  277,  2S0,  282,  285,  301  n., 
322,  330,  337.  342,  355,  357,  362,  365. 
370,  374,  401-3,  426;  —  paralytic 
stroke,  ii.  301  ;  —  resents  his  advice, 
ii.  426  n. ;  —  serious  talk  with  him,  ii. 
227  «.;  law-suits,  i.  375,  379,  390, 
393,  395,  400,  408;  ii.  158,  160,  163, 
190;  milk  diet,  ii.  234,  236;  mind 
unsettled,  i.  189-90;  P.ission  Week, 
i.   188;    phraseology,  ii.  160;    prefer- 


Letter's  of  D7\  Johnson. 


471 


Taylor,  Rev.  John Thrale,  Hester  Lynch. 


ments,  i.  12  «.,  13  n.,  65  «.,  156,  396; 
ii.   108,   158,  238,  261  n.,  262,  397; 

robbed,  ii.  265  ;  sister,  i.  71  ;  tithes, 
i.  166  n.;  variance  with  Langley,  i. 
347;  "-34;  venison,  ii.  32,  34;  water- 
fall, i.  198,  342  ;  wife  separated  from 
him,  i.  101-7,  109,  112  ;  will,  i.  166  n., 

379  «• 
Taylor,  John  (of  Birmingham),  i.  124. 
Tea-table,  i.  273  n. 
Temple,  second  Earl,  ii.  370  n. 
Temple,  Sir  Richard,  ii.  188  n. 
Temple,  Sir  William,  ii.  128,  400  «. 
Temple,  Rev.  William  Johnson,  ii.  182  n. 
Temple,  The,  i.  90  «.,  316  ;  the  Reader, 

ii-  349- 

Terence,  quoted,  ii.  i. 

Thackeray,  William  Makepeace,  i. 
389  n. 

Thanet,  Earl  of,  ii.  402  n. 

Theobald,  Lewis,  ii.  93,  276  n. 

Thirlby,  Dr.  Styan,  ii.  276. 

Thomond,  Marchioness  of,  ii.  85  n. 

Thomson,  James,  quoted,  i.  107  n.\  ii. 
142. 

Thrale,  Anna  Maria,  i.  140  n. 

Thrale,  Cecilia,  ii.  51,  291-2,  373. 

Thrale,  Frances  Anna,  i.  315  n.,  354. 

Thrale,  Henrietta  Sophia  (Harriet),  ii. 
238,  240,  291  11. 

Thrale,  Henry,  Abingdon  election,  i. 
132  n.;  ambition,  ii.  72,  127;  Bath 
waters,  ii.  140,  146  ;  '  black  dog,'  ii.  73, 
76,  78-9  ;  brewerj',  i.  192,  194,  346  «.  ; 
ii.  34,  127;  — difficulties  in  business, 
i.  192  n.,  19S-9,  213,  217  «. ;  ii.  74; 
—  profits,  i.  199,  346  ;  ii.  22,  32  «., 
72  ;  Brighton,  journey  to,  ii.  91  w.  ; 
character  by  his  wife,  i.  192  n. ;  ii. 
95  «.,  199  n. ;  Contractors'  Bill,  ii.  142 
n. ;  death,  ii.  209  ;  Derby,  visits,  i. 
350.  353.  355  ;  diet,  ii.  95  w.,  97  w., 
133,  I40W.,  162,  164,  1S4,  187,  189, 
426  n. ;  election,  dinners,  i.  204  w., 
206  «.,  307  ;  —  address,  ii.  145  ;  gen- 
tleman, how  far  a,  ii.  160  n.  ;  Gor- 
don riots,  ii.  170-1,  176;  grief  for 
his  son,  i.  384  «.,  386,  391 ;  ii.  71  n., 
95  n.,  97  n. ;  house  in  Grosvenor 
Square,  ii.  127  n.  ;  illness,  ii.  93-106, 
108,  132  «.,  143  n.,  159,   164  «.,  183 


«.,  198,  200 ;  '  impracticable  interest,' 
i.  329  ;  improvements  at  Streatham,  ii. 
45)  5^>  78;  Italy,  proposed  tour,  i.  387  ; 
ii.  192  «. ;  Johnson's  clothes,  i.  322  ;  ii. 
39  ;  —  company,  i.  347  n. ;  —  invest- 
ments, ii.  99 ;  — letters,  i.  153, 167, 169, 
183,  275,  283,  284,  306,  30S,  403  ;  ii.  6, 
14,  96,  98,  162  ;  —  love  for  him  and  his 
wife,  i.  142,  294,  388  ;  ii.  47,  54,  100, 
209,  211,  213-4 ;  —  '™y  home,'  i.  129, 
141  n.  ;  ii.  40  w. ;  —  '  our,^  i.  194  ;  ii. 
203 ;  —  grief  at  his  death,  ii.  209, 
351  ;  —  executor,  ii.  210,  214,  216  n.  ; 
—  guardian  to  his  children,  ii.  292, 
303;  marriage,  i.  98  «.  ;  ii.  127  «. ; 
Murphy  and  the  Miss  Gunnings,  ii.  122 
w. ;  'My  master,'  i.  196  «.;  pillar  of 
the  house,  i.  405;  ii.  119;  sisters,  i. 
219  n.;  sleep,  ii.  97-8,  199;  Sonth- 
wark  elections,  i.  132,  136-7;  ii.  145, 
i5i-4>  158,  160,  203;  '  take  him  for  all 
in  all,  &c.,'  i.  334  ;  '  takes  up  his  restes^ 
i.  401,  404;  Thraliana,  ii.  27  n. ;  will, 
executors  and  trustees,  ii.  115,  119, 
126,  129,  210,  216  ».,  219. 

Thrale,  Henry  Salusbury,  birth,  i.  12S 
n.;  reads  Milton,  214;  life  put  in  a 
lease,  288 ;  loved  by  Johnson,  294, 
344>  383;  entail,  351  ;  death,  330  w., 
381 ;  ii.  220  71. 

Thrale,  Hester  Lynch  (Miss  Salusbury, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Piozzi),  ancestry  and 
birth,  i.  201  n.,  355  «. ;  Anecdotes,  sum 
paid  her,  ii.  403  «. ;  aunt,  ii.  38,  47  ; 
bad  taste,  ii.  200  n.  ;  Bath,  visits,  i.  383 
«.,  387  n. ;  ii.  132,  404  n.  ;  Blackmore's 
Life,  ii.  185  «. ;  Boswell's  brother,  ii. 
182  n.  ;  — Journal,  i.  320,  330,  344, 
355  ;  brewery  on  her  husband's  death, 
ii.  23  n.,  126  M.,  210  n.,  213,  216-8, 
222  n.\  British  Syiionomy,  i.  212  n., 
384  n. ;  ii.  36  «.,  357  n. ;  Chambers, 
Sir  R.,  ii.  263  ;  children,  bom,  i.  140, 
153.  183,  315  ;  —  subject  to  a  malady, 
i.  349 ;  ii.  74,  356  n. ;  —  treatment  of 
them,  i.  205  «.,  294  «.,  338  ;/.,  350  «., 
351,  381  n.;  — feelings  towards  them, 
i.  353  n.,  384  n.  ;  ii.  291  n.  ;  —  attacks 
her  daughters,  ii.  210  «.,  387  «.,  394 
«.,  405  n.,  408  n. ;  ■ —  borrows  money 
from  them,  ii.  391  n.  ;  — separation  on 


472 


Index  to 


Thrale,  Hester  Lynch Thrale,  Hester  Maria. 


her  marriage,  ii.  405  n.,  412 ;  coarseness, 
ii.  304  n. ;  compared  with  Mrs.  Mon- 
tagu, ii.  153;  'contour,'  ii.  150  n.; 
courted,  ii.  140;  debts,  ii.  391;  de- 
jection, ii.  394 ;  described,  by  Miss 
Burney,  ii.  6  n.,  132  n.,  153  «.;  — 
by  Boswell,  ii.  22S«. ;  describes  Miss 
Burney,  ii.  133  n.,  408  n.  ;  'despicable 
dread,'  i.  196  n.  ;  ii.  127,  129  ;  dress, 
i.  338  n.,  340  ;;.  ;  election-dinners,  i. 
204,  206  ;  election  of  1780,  ii.  152-4, 
157  «.  ;  flattery,  i.  200,  220-1,  313,  329  ; 
ii.  43  n.,  308 ;  Foote,  slanders,  ii.  56 
n. ;  forgetfulness,  i.  367 ;  franked  letters, 
ii.  94  n.  ;  Garrick's  club-forfeits,  ii.  415 
n.\  Gordon  riots,  ii.  171  n. ;  Hawkes- 
worth's  play,  i.  412;  husband  (first^ 
married  to  her,  i.  98  n.\  ii.  127  n.; 
his  good  character,  ii.  95  n.  ;  —  their 
happiness,  ii.  210  ;  —  attacked  by  her, 
i.  192  n.,  217  n.;  ii.  96  n.,  140  w., 
160  n.,  199  «.,  210  n. ;  —  his  money 
difficulties,  i.  192  «.,  195-9;  ii-  199 '^-  I 

—  apoplexy,  ii.  94  «.  ;  —  death,  ii. 
209;  —  money  left  her,  ii.  210  n., 
221,  229,  231 ;  husband  (second),  first 
acquaintance,  ii.  57  «.  ;  —  'enchanting 
society,'  198  w.  ;  —  love  for  him,  351 
11.,  368  n.,  386  n.  ;  —  his  complaints, 
387  «.;  — attacks  on  her  about  him, 
352  n.  ;  —  marriage,  ii.  6  n.,  198  n., 
404-9 ;  —  sent  for  from  Milan,  401 
n.  ;  —  Circular  to  the  Executors,  and 
Johnson's  replies,  404-9  ;  —  her  two 
husbands  compared,  406  n.,  407  n. ;  in- 
accuracy, ii.  118,  237  n.;  inattention, 
ii.  343-4 ;  jealousy,  i.  344  n. ;  Jewish 
notions,  ii,  67  «. ;  Johnson's  advice  to 
her,  ii.  394,  406  ;  —  affection  for  her, 
i'-  303>  31 1 J  350  )  — )  she  attacks  him, 
ii.  387  w.,  391  n. ;  —  attendance  re- 
quired, i.  142  n.;  —  excellence,  i.  196 
n. ;  ii.  406  ;  —  expostulates  with  her,  ii. 
292  n.,  405  ;  —  says  that  she  is  to  be 
forgotten  or  pitied,  412  ;  — ,  her  kind- 
ness to  him,  ii.  212,  236,  238,  244,  249, 
307,  407  ;  —  his  high  opinion  of  her, 
ii.  406  ;  see  also  under  Thrale,  Henry  ; 

—  letters  to  her  described,  i.  361 ; 
pleasure  in  her  letters,  i.  216,  327,  332, 
3.35;    ii-  28,  50,  75,   123;    complains 


that  they  are  not  dated,  ii.  27  n.,  139, 
162  ;  burns  them,  i.  355  n.  ;  ii.  407 
n.  ;  —  Lives,  ii.  198  n.  ;  —  love  of 
useful  knowledge,  ii.  321  n. ;  —  melan- 
choly, i.  332  n.;  —  '  My  mistress,'  i. 
196  ;  — ,  her  neglect  of  him,  ii.  241, 
245.  250,  258,  292,  297,  300,  302-3, 
327^  351,  368,  381  «•>  384- ^396  n., 
404 ;   — ,  her  '  unfeeling  irony,'  ii.  257  ; 

—  Ode  and  verses,  i.  284  ;    ii.  192  n. ; 

—  her  present  to  him,  ii.  392  ;  — 
trustee,  i.  355  ;  —  quarrel  with  Taylor, 
ii.  426  n. ;  —  revises  her  poem,  ii.  403 
n.\  —  she  writes  him  a  serious  letter, 
ii.  380  n.,  384;  Journey,  ii.  318  11.; 
Ladies'  Charity  School,  i.  156  n.  ; 
learning,  i.  130  «. ;  ii.  34 «.  ;  Letters 
to  and  from  Dr.  Johnson,  letters  mis- 
placed, i.  163  n.,  308  n. ;  ii.  55  n.,  96, 
131,  218,  242,  256  n.,  257  n.;  — 
altered  or  wrong,  i.  240  n.,  288  ri.,  336 
«.,  388  n. ;  ii.  29  n.,  245  n.,  258  «., 
404;?.  ;  —  '  studied,'  ii.  147  n.,  175  n.  ; 
marriage,  see  above  under  husband  ; 
Metcalfe's  dislike  of  her,  ii.  345  n.  ; 
Musgrave,  Mr.,  i.  399  n. ;  nerves  ruined, 
ii.  198  n. ;  NoUekens'  studio,  ii.  62  ti. ; 
Opera,  at  the,  ii.  279  ;  parts  with  her 
money,  ii.  106  n. ;  reconciled  easily, 
i-  355  j  reduction  in  her  table,  ii.  389 ; 
regaled  with  Greek  and  Latin,  ii.  201 ; 
Regatta,  at  the,  i.  336-9,  343 ;  sea- 
bathing, ii.  277  «.;  suitors,  ii.  69  w. ; 
'  sunny  little  thing,'  ii.  100 ;  Thraliana, 
ii.  26  H.  ;  uncle,  see  Salusbury, 
Sir  Thomas;  verses,  ii.  141;  Welsh 
estates,  i.  290  n. ;  Whitbread's  offer  of 
marriage,  ii.  23  «. ;  wig,  ii.  57. 

Thrale,  Hester  Maria  (afterwards  Vis- 
countess Keith),  accomplished,  ii.  155, 
160;  Baretti's  pupil,  i.  326,  354,  403 
n.;  birthday,  i.  250;  ii.  33,  35,  405 
ti. ;  cabinet,  i.  196,  287,  294 ;  children, 
management  of,  ii.  183  ;  dancing,  ii. 
47  n.,  48,  127;  described  by  Miss 
Burney,  ii.  5  «.,  154  n.\  —  by  Baretti, 
ii.  356  n.  ;  eyes  sore,  ii.  148  n. ; 
father,  watches  over  her,  ii.  191,  200; 

—  bis  death,  ii.  213  n.\  gloomy,  i. 
339  «. ;  Gordon  riots,  ii.  175;  health, 
i.  385 ;    ii.  28-9,  258  ;    Johnson,  held 


Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


473 


Thrale,  Hester  Maria Voltaire. 


by,  ii.  79  ;  —  his  affection  for  her,  ii. 
229,  234;  — Latin  lessons,  ii.  98  «., 
154,  182,  189;  —  letters,  ii.  72  n., 
186  ;  — ,  her  letters  to  him,  i.  356  ;  ii. 
78,  118,  129,  136,  191,  193,  230-2, 
303-  308,  389,  397  ;  —  her  neglect  of 
him,  ii.  279,  316,  3S4,  404  ;  —  verses, 
ii.  46  n. ;  Marie  Antoinette  notices  her, 
i.  369  ;  marriage,  i.  133  n.  ;  memoirs, 
i.  320 ;  mother,  conduct  towards  her, 
ii.  394  n. ;  —  marriage,  ii.  405  n. ; 
offer  of  marriage,  ii.  394  n. ;  poultry, 
i-  334 ;  '  Queeney,'  i.  180  n. ;  regatta,  i. 
339  ;  watch,  i.  401  ;  womanly,  ii.  59. 

Thrale,  Lucy  Elizabeth,  i.  140  «.,  153 
«.,  196,  290,  294. 

Thrale,  Ralph,  i.  294  «.,  319,  328,  344, 

348.  35i>  353- 
Thrale,  Sophia  (afterwards  Mrs.  Hoare), 

i.  183  «.,  365,  393;   ii.  91,   190,  316, 

364,   397  ;    Johnson's   letter,    ii.    320 ; 

proficience  in  arithmetic,  ii.  321,  361  ; 

ill,  ii.  356,  360,  383,  385-6. 
Thrale,  Susanna  A.,  i.  349,  393;  ii.  78, 

91,  190,  232,  280,  298,  303,  320,  348, 

364,  397 ;    Johnson's   letters,    ii.    316, 

323,    331.    35i>    385;    —    'always  a 

Susy,'  i.  354 ;  ii.  44. 
Thuanus,  i.  30  n. 
Thurloe,  John,  i.  13. 
Thurlow,  Lord  Chancellor,  i.  390;   ii. 

213  n.,  414  n. 
Thurlow,  Thomas,  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 

ii.  349  n. 
TiLNEY,  Lord,  i.  206  «. 
TiMMiNS,  Mr.  Samuel,  i.  15  n. 
Timorsome,  ii.  246. 
TOLCHER,  Alderman,  i.  93. 
ToMKESON,  —  Johnson's  letter,  ii.  338. 
ToNSON,  Jacob   (the  younger  1,  i.  62  n., 

124,  127  n. 
ToOKE,  Rev.  William,  ii.  377  n. 
Tories,  i.  11  n. 
Torpescence,  ii.  441. 
Touj ours  per drix,  i.  178  n. 
Town  Malling,  ii.  23  n. 
Toys,  i.  294  n. 


Trade,  ii.  126. 

Translation,  i.  381  n. 

Travel,  Books  of,  i.  166,  227. 

Travelling,  i.  254,  270. 

Traverse,  i.  242  n. 

Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  i.  323  n. 

Trissino,  G.  G.,  ii.  240  «. 

Truth,  i.  365  n. 

Tuam,  Archbishop  of,  ii.  326. 

Timid,  ii.  372  n. 

Turbulent  ',  Mr.,  ii.  5  w. 

Turnpike  roads,  ii.  441. 

TuRTON,  Dr.,  ii.  191,  193. 

TuRTON,  Miss,  i.  132,  173  «.;  ii.  20. 

Twiss,  Richard,  i.  316,  321,  351  n.,  399. 

Tyburn,  ii.  63  n. 

Tyranny,  ii.  no. 

Tyrwhitt,  Thomas,  i.  398,  404. 

Tyson,  — ,  ii.  171. 

U. 
Ulinish,  i.  268. 
Under  the  circumstances,  ii.  36. 
Universal  History,  ii.  432. 
University,  its  advantages,  ii.  440. 
Urquhart,  James,  ii.  50  n. 
Utensils,  i.  257. 

V. 

Valetudinarians,  i.  305,  378. 

Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,  \.  \\  n. 

Vansittart,  Dr.,  i.  289. 

Veracious,  ii.  52  «. 

Vesey,  Mrs.,  ii.  88,  105,  134,  136,  155  ;/., 
164,  178. 

Vezy,  Miss,  ii.  312. 

Victor  Amadei;s,  i.  146. 

Villette,  — ,  ii.  311  n. 

Vinteniers,  i.  162  n. 

Virgil,  quoted:  Aineid,  i.  130,  182, 
221,  335;  ii.  27,  41,  289,  345,  373, 
408  «.;  Eclogues,  i.  154,  266  «.,  334 
n.;  ii.  41  ;  pieces  ascribed  to  him,  ii. 
417  ;  compared  with  Ovid,  ii.  440. 

Voltaire,  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  i.  5  «. ; 
Cardinal    Fleury,   12  ;/. ;    Baskerville's 


'  '  The  gentleman  whom  Miss  Burney  held  up  to  ridicule  as  Mr.  Turbulent  was  the 
Rev.  Charles  de  Guiffardiere.'— C.  Knight's  Passages  of  a  Worhing  Life,  i.  45;  ed. 
1864 


474 


Index  to 


Voltaire Warton,  Rev.  Thomas. 


types,  42  «.;  Candide,  79  «.;  English- 
men visiting  Italy,  316  n. 

Vows,  i.  217. 

Vyse,  Rev.  Dr.,  ii.  271,  395;  Johnson's 
letters,  ii.  14,  207,  213,  430. 

Vyse,  Rev.  Mr.  (of  Lichfield;,  i.  148. 

Vyse,  Miss,  i.  148,  334  ;  ii.  93. 

W. 

W ,  Mr.,  i.  132,  134. 

W ,  Mrs.,  ii.  141. 

Wade,  General,  i.  242  n. 

Wade,  —  ii.  127  w. 

Wakefield,  — ,  i.  104. 

Wales,  i.  317  ;  ii.  30. 

Walker,  William,  B.D.,  i.  97  n. 

Wall,  John,  M.D.,  i.  172,  179. 

Wall,  Martin,  M.D.,  172;  ii.  257  n. 

Wall,  Mrs.,  ii.  257  n. 

Waller,  Edmund,  Life,  ii.  68,  372  n. 

Walmsley,  Gilbert,  i.  1 1  «.,83 11. ;  ii.  49 11. 

Walmsley,  Mrs.,  ii.  49,  54. 

Walnut-trees,  i.  131. 

Walpole,  Horace  (fourth  Earl  of  Or- 
ford),  America,  war  with,  i.  311  n.,  318 
n.,  325  «•)  360  n.;  ii.  57  n.;  Baker 
the  antiquary,  ii.  13  «.  ;  balloons,  ii. 
365  n.,  420  n. ;  Barry,  James,  ii.  293 
n. ;  Bas  Bleu,  ii.  390  n. ;  Bath-Easton, 
ii.  138  «. ;  Beauclerk  and  Bolingbroke, 
ii.  54  n. ;  Birch,  Dr.,  i.  53  n. ;  Bruce 
the  traveller,  i.  313  n.  ;  Burney,  Miss, 
ii.  354  w. ;  Chandler's  Travels,  i.  321 
n. ;  Chatterton,  i.  404  71. ;  Colman  and 
Pennick,  i.  133  n.\  commercial  bank- 
ruptcy, i.  192  n.  ;  Cornelys,  Madame, 
i.  88  n.  ;  coronation,  i.  91  ;;. ;  Dart- 
mouth, Lord,  ii.  291  71.  ;  debates  in 
I784>  ii-  375  ^^- ;  Dettingen,  i.  4  w. ; 
dissatisfaction  general,  ii.  120  n.  ; 
Dodd's  execution,  ii.  11 ;  election  of 
1768,  i.  132  n.,  137  n.;  England 
rained,  ii.  114  n.,  264  n.;  Fox  and 
Pitt,  ii.  358  n.  ;  Garrick  and  Mrs. 
Porter,  ii.  344  n. ;  George  III  and 
Johnson,  ii.  87  n. ;  Gordon  riots,  ii. 
166-70  nn.,  172-6  nn.,  178  n.  ;  gout, 
ii.  ]o8  11.  \  Grenada,  ii.  121  «. ;  Har- 
court,  Earl  of,  ii.  37  «.  ;  Harley,  Alder- 
man, i.  304  n. ;  hay-making,  i.  352  71. ; 
Herschel's  discoveries,  ii.  386  «. ;  high- 


waymen, ii.  312  ;;.  ;  Howard,  John,  ii. 
394  n.  ;  Ireland  in  1782,  ii.  264  «. ;  in 
1783,  ii.  340  n.;  James's  powder,  i. 
23  71.  ;  Jebb,  Sir  R.,  ii.  148  «.  ;  Jones 
the  orientalist,  ii.  155  71.  ;  —  his  Ode, 
ii.  369  71. ;  Lyttelton,  Lord,  i.  288  «. ; 
mail-coaches,  i.  392  ;/. ;  Mason's 
version  of  Du  Fresnoy,  ii.  286  «. ; 
nephew's  marriage,  ii.  186  «.  ;  Pre- 
tender's birthday,  i.  13  71.  ;  prophets, 
ii.  145  71. ;  Prussia  and  Hungary,  i.  12  «. ; 
Queen  of  Denmark's  death,  i.  319  m.  ; 
Ranelagh,  i.  306  71.  ;  reform  of  Parlia- 
ment, ii.  285  7t.  ;  regatta,  i.  336  n., 
339  71.  ;  revolution  in  the  Penetralia,  i. 
408  71.  ;  Royal  Academy,  ii.  150  n.  ; 
September  weather,  ii.  25  «.  ;  Seward, 
Rev.  T.,  i.  10  71.  ;  She  Stoops  to 
Conquer,  i.  214  w. ;  Shelburce,  Lady, 
ii.  81  7t. ;  Siddons,  Mrs.,  ii.  345;/.,  346 
77. ;  Southwells,  the,  i.  205  w.  ;  specula- 
tion, i.  170  71.  ;  Spence,  Joseph,  ii.  133 
71.  ;  spring  of  1782,  ii.  251  «.,  256  «., 
260  71. ;  summer  of  1772,  i.  192  «.  ;  — 
of  1783,  ii.  320  n.,  326  71. ;  — of  1784, 
ii.  416  «. ;  Whitbread  the  brewer,  ii.  23 
n.\  Wilson,  Dr.,  ii.  397  «. 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  i.  4,  10  «. ;  ii. 
186  n. 

Walsh,  William,  ii.  17S. 

Warburton,  William,  D.D.,  Bishop  of 
Gloucester,  Prebendary  of  Durham,  i. 
226  71.  ;  Spence's  A7iecdotes,  ii.  133  «. ; 
'warm  language,'  156  n. ;  contempt  of 
mankind,  397  «. 

Ward,  Mr.  T.  Humphry,  ii.  330  ;?. 

Ward,  William,  i.  15. 

Warmer,  Dr.,  ii.  169  «. 

Warner,  Rebecca,  i.  409  n. 

Warren,  Thomas,  i.  6,  9,  41-2,  125. 

Warren,  ^,  i.  164. 

Warton,  Rev.  Joseph,  D.D.,  CoUins's 
poems,  ii.  130  ;  Essay  071  Pope,  i.  62  n. ; 
Johnson's  letters,  i.  36,  38,  62,  122  ;  ii. 
156  ;  Spence's  A7tecdotes,  ii.  133  «.  ; 
his  taste  amazement,  ii.  441  ;  Theobald 
and  Seneca,  ii.  93  71. ;  Winchester 
School,  i.  63. 

Warton,  Mrs.,  i.  122. 

Warton,  Rev.  Thomas,  Collins  visits 
him,  i.  39  71.;    Johnson's  degree,  i.  62 


Letters  of  D?'.  Johnson. 


475 


Warton,  Rev.  Thomas Woodward,  Dr. 


71.;  —  letters,  i.  73;  ii.  155;  Mr. 
Swinton's  sermon,  ii.  432  w.  ;  men- 
tioned, i.  38  ft ;  ii.  2,^7  n. 

Was  to  see,  i.  353  n.\  ii.  186. 

Washington,  George,  ii.  57  «. 

Watermen's  Company,  ii.  319  n. 

Watson,  Richard,  Bishop  of  LlandafF,  i. 
183  «.;  ii.  313  n. 

Watson,  Professor  Robert,  i.  231  «.,  412; 
ii.  91. 

Watts,  Rev.  Isaac,  D.D.,  ii.  185  «.,  232 
«.,  275  n. 

Way,  Mrs.,  ii.  252,  339. 

Webster,  — ,  i.  379  n. 

Wedderburne,  Alexander  'Lord  Lough- 
borough and  Earl  of  Rosslyn),  i.  356 

"•,  .^95- 
Welch,  Saunders,  i.    149   n.,  396  ;    ii. 

63  n. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  i.  241  «. 

Wells,  Mrs.,  i.  301  n. 

Welsh  Grammar,  i.  145. 

Wesley,  Rev.  John,  causes  of  scarcity,  i. 
201  n.  ;  '  consorted  with,'  i.  305  ;  free- 
man of  Perth,  i.  236  w.  ;  gout,  ii. 
109 «.  ;  Inverness,  i.  251  n.  ;  Johnson's 
letter,  i.  372  ;  Marshalsea,  i.  306  n.  ; 
Newcastle  in  1745,  i.  227  n.;  Oxford 
Methodists,  i.  136  n.  ;  sisters,  ii.  57  «., 
392  ;  sound  sleeper,  ii.  335  n. 

Wesley,  Kezia,  ii.  57  n. 

Wesley,  Miss,  ii.  57. 

West,  Gilbert,  ii.  188. 

Westcote,  Lord  (William  Henry  Lyttel- 
ton),  i.  177;  ii.  20,  189;  Johnson's 
letters,  ii.  187-8. 

Westminster  Abbey,  ii.  163,  434. 

Wetherell,  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan,  i.  113  w., 

115  «•>  3i3>  323.   338,    349>  420;   ii. 

16,  183,  259. 
Weymouth,  ii.  318,  325. 
Wheeler,  Rev.  Benjamin,  D.D.,  ii.  260, 

327,  398- 
Whelk,  i.  268  M. 
Whigs,   i.   11  n.,   185  «.,  266;    ii.  87, 

400  n. 
Whitbread,  Samuel,  ii.  23  «.,  72  n. 
Whitby,  Thomas,  i.  301  n. 
Whitelamb,  Mrs.,  ii.  57  n. 
Wicher's  Almshouses,  ii.  371. 
WiGAN,  George,  i.  1 32  n. 


WiLBRAHAM,  — ,  i.  Il6  11. 

WiLCOCKS,  John,  i.  403. 

Wilkes,  John,  opposed  by  Hnrley,  i. 
304  w. ;  dinner  at  Dilly's,  397 ;  poll 
for  Chamberlain,  408 ;  Gordon  riots, 
ii.  172,  174-5  ;  Johnson's  letter,  295. 

Wilkes,  Miss,  ii.  295. 

WiLKiNS,  John,  Bishop  of  Chester,  ii. 
321. 

WiLKS,  Father,  i.  401,  406 ;  ii.  39. 

Will-making,  ii.  115. 

Williams,  Anna,  annuity,  i.  371  //.;  ii. 
190.  336,  340;  benefit,  i.  53,  55-6,  59 
It.,  150;  carving,  ii.  125  «. ;  character, 
ii.  334,  336  ;  compared  with  Desmou- 
lins,  ii.  42  ;  dying,  ii.  326,  328  ;  death, 
ii.  331  ;  ill,  i.  314 ;  ii.  33,  107,  193,  242 
«.,  290  ;  Irish  cloth,  i.  168  ;  Johnson's 
care  for  her,  i.  37,  349  :  —  companion, 
ii-  295,  309,  344,  348,  357,  368;  — 
sends  a  letter  to  her,  ii.  318  ;  Mis- 
cellatties,  i.  87;  portrait,  ii.  335  «.; 
quarrels,  ii.  74-5,  77,  ii6,  295;  \isitcd 
by  Mrs.  Thrale,  i.  360;  will,  i.  156  n.\ 
ii.  334;  mentioned,  i.  94,  276,  284, 
311,  394;  ii.  70,  117,  1S7,  255,  332. 

Wilmot,  Henr)',  i.  421. 

WiLMOT,  Robert,  i.  421. 

Wilmot,  Valentine  Henry,  i.  421. 

Wilson,  Rev.  Christopher,  i.  40  ;/. 

Wilson,  Rev.  Thomas,  D.D.,  i.  40  //. ; 
ii.  158,  163,  397. 

Wilson,  Rev.  Thomas  (of  Clitheroe),  ii. 
224  n. 

Wilton,  Miss,  i.  341  n. 

Wilton,  — ,  i.  327. 

Windham,  Right  Hon.  William,  trans- 
lates Thztanus,  i.  30  n.  \  at  University 
College,  113  «. ;  visits  Johnson,  ii. 
373  «.,  420 ;  Essex  Head  Club,  396 
n. ;  sees  a  balloon,  420  w. ;  Johnson's 
funeral,  434  ;  —  anecdotes,  439. 

Wings  of  iron,  ii.  372. 

WoFFlNGTON,  Margaret,  ii.  186  ;/. 

Wolcot,  Dr.  John,  ii.  330  n. 

Wolfe,  General  James,  i.  240  n. 

Women,  power  given  them  by  nature,  i. 
104  ;  portrait  painting,  ii.  179  w. 

Wood,  Anthony,  ii.  274. 

Woodcock,  — ,  i.  103-4,  106-7. 

Woodward,  Dr.,  ii.  138-9. 


476 


Index  to  Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


Woodw^ard,  — Zoflfany. 


Woodward,  — ,  i.  397  «.,  400. 

Wordsworth,  William,  letter-writing, 
i.  65  n. ;  personal  talk,  ii.  19  n. 

Workhouses,  ii.  21. 

World,  the,  not  to  be  despised,  i.  337 ; 
not  unkind,  ii.  215. 

WoRTHlNGTON,Rev.  Dr.  William,  ii.73. 

Wraxall,  Sir  Nathaniel  W.,  Queen  of 
Denmark,  i.  319  «. ;  Cursory  Remarks, 
321;  American  war,  390  n.\  buckles 
and  ruffles,  ii.  6  n. ;  Johnson  described, 
136  n.\  Gordon  riots,  174  «  ;  Om- 
niscient Jackson,  349  n. 

Wray,  D.,  i.  365  n. 

Wright,  Alderman,  i.  116  n. 

Wright,  Dr.,  ii.  434. 

Wright,  Mrs.,  ii.  i;7  n. 

Writing,  unnatural  in  three  ways,  ii. 
440. 


Wrottesley,  Sir  John,  ii.  325  n. 
Wyatt,  John,  i.  6  n. 
Wynn,  Sir  W.  W.,  i.  135. 

X. 

Xenophon,  ii.  409. 


Yalden,  Rev.  Thomas,  ii.  185  n. 

York,  i.  224. 

York,  Duke  of,  i.  409  n. 

Young,  Rev.  Edward,  D.C.L.,  quoted, 

i.  173  ;  ii.  44  ;  Life,  ii.  189-90. 
Young,  George,  M.D.,  i.  31. 
Young,  Professor  John,  ii.  315  n. 


Z. 


ZOFFANY,  i.   261   n. 


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